


you're the only one i notice, it's really hard for me to focus

by snogglinglarry



Category: Austin & Ally
Genre: Alliot lol?, Elliot and Ally are kind of together, F/M, auslly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-02 06:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8653804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snogglinglarry/pseuds/snogglinglarry
Summary: Austin and Ally have always had a special and unique relationship but everything gets mixed up when broken hearts, past relationships, new relationships, lingering feelings, longing, and love are thrown in the mix. Title from Gifted by French Montana's Gifted ft The Weeknd.





	1. long-time, no see

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiii. This is a story I've had since 2013 (the prime of my Austin and Ally fascination) that I thought I'd finally publish but it's been heavily updated and edited because 2013 me was not the best when it came to writing lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Austin is walking to class, feeling slightly moody and anti-social, earphones plugged in and head bobbing up and down at the beat of The Weeknd's new song "Party Monster" he's really digging when he sees a five-foot-two head of curls running towards him yelling, "Austin, Austin, help!"

Austin sighs and stops, taking out his earphones while Ally, his bestfriend/partner, hides behind six-foot frame, easily blocking her from view, "Ed, again?"

All he gets is a "Shhh, he's coming," before Ed walks in, dorky and lanky as ever.

"Hey, Austin! Have you seen your fine piece of friend, Ally?" Austin hears Ally scoff, "I was trying to ask her to Prom but she ran away for some reason."

Ed's a peculiar kid. He moved in from Britain last year....at least that's what he had told everyone. It wasn't until his sister, who was actually normal and pretty cute, said that they had actually moved in from South Carolina and that the British accent Ed had was pure fiction. He continued to use it, regardless.

"Nah, man. I haven't seen her. Sorry," Austin replies, shrugging. He really wasn't in the mood. Quite frankly, he doesn't think he has a mood that would tolerate Ed's weird crush on Ally. 

"Oh, dang," Ed says, shoulders slumped, which gives Austin an idea. If he had to deal with Ed, he might as well get some form of entertainment out of it. 

He lowers his voice, and makes a show of looking around to make sure no one is close enough to hear. 

"Are you _sure_ you want to take Ally to the dance?"

"Of course I do! What do you mean?"

"I mean, sorry to inform you but," Austin leans in to whisper in Ed's ear, "she only dates guys with mustaches."

Austin grimaces as he feels a kick to the ankle which goes unnoticed by Ed who is beaming, "Seriously? I've got to go buy a mustache! Thanks, mate!"

With that Ed clamps a hand on Austin's shoulder and is off.

"He's gone, Ally."

Immediately, Ally steps out, punching him in the arm, "Really? A mustache?"

Austin shrugs, "It got him to go away, didn't it?"

Ally is taken back by his coldness but ignores it, knowing what she's about to tell him will cheer him up.

"I suppose so, thanks, Austin. Anyways, guess what?!"

Austin sighs, looking disinterested as possible, "Hm?"

Ally breathes in, trying to ignore him and control her irritation at him, then breathes out and smiles, "Trish booked us a gig at prom!"

This catches Austin interest but he immediately frowns, "Without asking us?"

"Well, she asked me."

Austin laughs without humor, furious and upset. "And what did I become? When was it agreed that I wouldn't be informed about things like this? It's not just Team Ally. I'm a part of this, too, in case you forgot."

Ally takes her eyes away from his face and instead decides the floor to be more interesting. She feels like a deflated balloon. She wants to yell and hit him.

Instead, she speaks with no emotion to a piece of gum wrapper on the floor, "You're right. I didn't tell you because I thought I'd surprise you but you're right. How foolish of me. Forget it, I'll tell Trish to cancel."

She walks away but not before Austin smacks his lips and sighs, feeling like literal shit as he grabs Ally by her arm before she walks too far, "Ally, Ally, wait."

He lets her go once she stops walking but she doesn't turn around. She has her arms crossed around her chest but he takes it as a cue to continue.

"I'm sorry. To be honest, I'm just having a bad day and I took it out on you, I'm sorry."

Ally's glad Austin can't see her, because the mention of him having a bad day makes her face go soft. She tightens the grip on her arms and asks, "Why is that?" as nonchalant as possible.

Austin hesitates, "Ally, I-I can't."

"Fine," Ally says, walking off again, but not before Austin grabs her by her arm again, and spins her around by the shoulders so they're facing each other.

"Cassidy broke up with me!"

Ally raises her eyebrows.

"There, you happy?"

"Oh, Austin, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me before?" she says sincerely, putting a hand on Austin's shoulder for support.

"She broke up with me this morning."

"But, how-"

"Over text. She dumped me over text," Austin says, exasperated, his sadness peaking through as his voice breaks off. 

That's low, Ally thinks, even for Cassidy whom she never had a much of a liking for and only ever pretended to for Austin's sake. He was head over heels...or, sneakers? for her. It was ridiculous. On and off for over 3 years but this time it seemed final, and she knows how heartbroken Austin is, regardless if he doesn't show it.

"Austin. I'm sorry. You deserve so much better. If I could go over to her and beat her up without being put in jail for assault, then I so would." This gets Austin to smile which Ally was aiming for, no matter how small the smile is. "I'm honestly, truly sorry but she doesn't deserve the satisfaction of you being hurt and upset, especially if she has the nerve to dump you over text. I know it hurts, but I hope you take this as a lesson and learn from it. It'll be okay, though. You're the greatest person ever and she's dumb not to realize she just lost the best thing that happened to her. Now, come here," she says, holding her arms out, offering an embrace that Austin smiles at, and quickly accepts.

Austin knew Ally was right. She always knew what to say to lift his mood. Plus, Ally's hugs always made him feel one-thousand times better, and it makes him feel even worse for being a piece of shit and lashing out at her. He hugs her tighter.

"I really am sorry, Ally."

Ally smiles, "It's okay. I completely understand if you still want to cancel on the gig. Regardless of anything, you were right. I thought because this would be our first paid gig that I'd leave it as a surprise but you were right."

Austin perks up, loosening his grip on the embrace to lean back to look at her, "Paid?"

Ally nods, "Yeah, Trish and Ms.Clemmons made a deal to pay us 200 for the night," Austin's eyes widen. "If," Ally interjects, "we write a song by this weekend, which is, you know, two days away. Ms.Clemmons wants to revise it and make sure it's, you know, 'appropriate"', she says, using her fingers to make quotation marks.

"Ally, we've wrote songs in thirty minutes before. Two days is nothing, especially since, you know, I've got more time now that Cassidy's out of my life. How about today and tomorrow after school we can work on it?"

Ally smiles, "So you'll do it?!"

Austin smiles back, "Of course, dork. Like you said, I'm not going to let Cassidy ruin this for me. This is huge!"

Ally squeals, "Ahh, yes! I'm so excited! Okay, so I can't today because my dad needs me because of this stupid promotion thingy where everything's 60% off but tomorrow, of course! Plus, I've already been working on something I think will be perfect!"

Austin makes a confused face, "Promotion? When did that happen?"

Ally sighs, "There isn't one. My dad just needs the customers."

Austin laughs and wraps an arm around Ally's shoulders as they walk, "No worries, Alls. I bet it'll be perfect."

Ally smiles and wraps her hand around his waist.

They walk in a comfortable silence until, suddenly, they hear someone from behind them say, "Ally? Ally Dawson?"

They turn around and Austin, sees a unfamiliar, smiling stranger, while Ally sees Elliot, a familiar friend from camp she hasn't since in a long time.

"Elliot! Oh my god!" she says as she lets go of Austin to hug a still smiling Elliot.

"Ally? Wow, you look so different," he says, holding her hands, "Don't make that face! I mean it in a good way, you look gorgeous!"

Ally giggles, "Elliot, stop! You're too nice, but ditto! You look really good! What are you doing here?"

"I just moved here, I'm an official Manatee!" he says laughing which in turn makes Ally laugh.

Austin is confused as he watches the scene unfold in front of him. His thoughts consist of: Who is this guy? Why is he looking at Ally like that? Why is Ally forgetting that Austin is _right_ there? Why is this dude's shirt so goddamn tight? 

They continue talking but Austin can't even hear anything because Ally is fucking _batting_ her lashes at him. He expects Ally to turn around and maybe introduce him or fucking acknowledge his presence but nothing happens. She just continues to bat her lashes and look cute and let this guy play with her hair and compliment her. 

Austin sighs in relief when the warning bell ring and he hears Ally says, "Oh, I have to get to class. I have Economics with Mr.Rodriguez."

Elliot gasps, "No way! I have that next, too! I'll walk you!"

Austin almost has smoke coming out of his ears. _He's_ the one who usually walks Ally to her class. Not this artificial blond try-hard.

Ally smiles and nods, as Elliot puts his hand on the small of her back and guides her through the crowd of people trying to get to class. 

Austin waves at their retreating figures,"Yeah, okay, I'll see you later, too. Nice meeting you!"

He sighs angrily and puts his earphones back in.

He's also late for class.


	2. circle around the bend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before Prom: Ally has a date with Elliot, there's still a song that needs to be written, and new emotions arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kind of a long chapter just because I couldn't find a good ending point and this took me kinda forever to write so enjoy. :)  
> 

Austin is filled with relief, practically dripping with it when the dismissal bell rings. He gets his bag and practically runs out of the classroom, putting his earphones in again.

He goes to his locker to wait for Ally since he's her ride until her car gets out of the shop. Austin doesn't mind though. He loves Ally's music taste and she's cool with his music too. It's a win-win situation.

Five minutes pass of waiting when suddenly, his phone vibrates in his pocket, muting his music for a second before returning to full volume again.

He takes it out of his pocket and unlocks it.

Ally: **hey sorry for the last-minute warning but Elliot said he'd take me home, I'd say I hope you don't mind but I know ur secretly celebrating that u don't have to listen to the lana's new album again lol. ur going to sonic boom right? see u there xoxo :)**

He leaves her on read.

Of fucking course it's because of Elliot.

He walks to his car and turns it on, while the A/C starts running, he sends a quick text to Dez, who didn't go to school because of the flu.

Austin: **Hey buddy. You feeling better? Missed you today.**

He adds a " **bro** " at the end at the end to make it less sentimental.

Dez: **Yeah, feeling better. my mom made me soup which kind of helped. missed u too ): all of u /: my house was soo lonely. u going to Sonic Boom rn?**

Austin: **Yeah, see you there?**

Dez: **For sure dude**

He puts the car in park and pulls out of the parking lot, blasting "Party Monster" for the 20th time on his super loud bass speakers that he always gets mean stares and complaints for from many teachers, ignoring the bad feeling in his stomach about Ally and Elliot.

He blames the bitterness towards everything on his break-up with Cassidy and turns the volume up more. 

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Austin, Dez, and Trish are all at the famous music store, Sonic Boom. Austin is showing them "Party Monster" for the first time, Trish, being the dramatic person she is, wearing a medical mask, sitting on a bench reading a magazine and Dez, sitting next to Trish, with the reddest nose Austin has ever seen-besides those people at that one after-party he went to. That was the same night he vowed to never even _touch_ cocaine, let alone ingest in.

"Dez, I'd appreciate it if you'd sit somewhere else. I'm not trying to get sick," Trish says with disgust. 

"Um, you can move away too, you know," Dez says, blowing his noise in his 50th, already snot-filled, tissue. Yes, 50. Austin was counting.

"Wait," Trish responds, the metaphorical light bulb above her head (and the actual light bulb that had gone out 3 weeks ago that Lester, Ally's Dad and owner of Sonic Boom, had no intention of fixing) lights up as she comes to her groundbreaking realization, "If I get sick, that means I'll-

"Hey, the light turned on!"

"Dez, shut up." Trish continues, "I'll have an excuse to not go into work tomorrow. On second thought, I think it's better if you stay close."

She takes off her mask, throwing it on the floor, and cuddles up to Dez who accepts it since he was feeling kind of chilly anyway-and because Trish would probably bite him if he tried to move away.

"Don't you go to work without an excuse all the time?" Dez asks.

"Yes, but the manager is super cute and I don't want to ruin my chances with him by making him think I'm lazy."

"But, you are."

"DEZ, why can't you just shut your mouth for one sec-"

"Guys," Austin whines impatiently, interrupting them, "This is a really good song, please listen to it!"

Dez sneezes in response. Trish says, "Is The Weeknd going to keep from going to work, tomorrow?"

Austin shakes his head, confused, "No?"

"Didn't think so," Trish replies, and opens up and dramatically flips another page of the magazine, still snuggled up to Dez.

Austin rolls his eyes.

Dez says, "What about Prom, dimwit? You want to be sick for that, too? You do know it's in 3 days, right?"

Trish laughs humorlessly, "Of course I know. As if a little flu would stop me from going! I'd go even if it I was dying, I spent too much time and money on my dress for that."

Which is true. Trish made all 3 of them face-time her while she shopped for her dress, which took a total of six hours and cost more money that Austin's new shoes (which were pretty expensive). Austin and Dez had already went shopping the week before. Ally, being Ally, bought hers at a thrift shop but hadn't showed anyone.

Austin rolls his eyes (again) at Trish's dramatic episode.  

He steals a glance at Ally, who's the only that makes him feel sane in his unique group of friends. He smiles when he sees her foot tapping along to beat of the song, the only person who actually seems to be enjoying the song as she goes through each and every person. The slight anger he had towards her at first completely vanished when he saw her. It was crazy to him, the effect that she had on him.

Nobody expected so many people to come. With the store having one of it's busiest days of the year due to Lester's fake promotion, Ally hasn't spoken a word to anyone, too preoccupied with dealing all those customers by herself. The second she got home from school, she went straight to work. Austin knows Ally would be stressed out of her mind if she didn't have music.

Once "Party Monster" is over, he changes the song to "Faithfully" by Journey and raises the volume up just the slightest bit.

Ally immediately perks up and turns around with the brightest eyes to look at him and smiles. She mouths him a very grateful "thank you" which he returns with a wink before she goes back to the waiting customer.

He knows it's Ally's favorite.

About two hours pass by when Ally is at her last customer. She bags the flute as quickly as possible and hands it to the customer who doesn't even say "thank you" but at that point, she didn't care.

Once the person leaves, Ally sighs and puts her head in her hands. She was tired as hell. All of a sudden, she feels two hands massaging her shoulders, hitting the exact spots that ached the most. She stops herself from moaning out loud. She leans her head back in pleasure. She doesn't even have to ask who it is.

"Thank you, Austin. You have no idea how much this is helping," she says, her eyes shut tight, feeling her stress being released little by little with every movement of Austin's hands.

He laughs, "It's okay. It's the least I could do. Do you know how much it sucks watching you work your ass off while we just sit there? I wish you'd let us help."

"It's okay, I hate people doing my work for me when I have nothing to give back."

Austin softens up and says sincerely, "Ally, I'd never do anything for you expecting something back-"

Suddenly, Ally's phone goes off. Ally immediately straightens up, causing Austin to flinch and take his hands off of her as she almost _dives_ for her phone under the counter with a renewed energy. Elliot had told her when he dropped her off that he was going to text her something important later.  

She turns her phone on and sees that it's a text from Elliot. Her face breaks out into a huge smile that she tries to bite back. Austin hasn't seen her smile like that since that one time that Dallas, an ex-crush of Ally's, said he loved Ally's eyes.

"Woah," Austin says, "Who texted? Barack Obama?"

Elliot: **hey beautiful. you wanna hang out and catch up somewhere other than school? does tomorrow sound ok to you?**

Ally squeals, never looking up from her phone, "No. Elliot!"

Austin's face immediately falls and he feels the emotion from earlier creeping back in, the one that made him moody and that he blamed on Cassidy.

Trish runs over at the mention of Elliot's name, Dez trailing behind her with a tissue stuffed into each nostril, "No way, Elliot texted? Let me see!"

Ally shows her and they both squeal at the same time.

Austin rolls his eyes. He really doesn't see all the hype over this guy. 

"You're going to say yes, right?" Trish exclaims/asks.

Ally blushes, "I don't know, should I?"

Usually, Ally blushing would be adorable to him since she mostly blushes when their hands touch when they're playing piano but this time, it irritates him.

"As The Love Whisperer," Dez says, throwing his head to side and whispering it with his eyes screwed shut, "I think you should."

Austin doesn't even have it in him to say, "No one calls you that," but no one notices, they're all too busy freaking out about stupid, dumb Elliot who asks girls out over texts.

Ally breathess in and smiles, "You're right."

Ally: **Yes, of course. I'd love to.**

Austin sighs and unplugs his phone from the speakers, "I got to go, see you, bro," he says, clapping Dez on the shoulder and leaving.

Dez doesn't even get a chance to respond before Austin is out of eyesight.

Ally and Trish don't even notice, too busy  squealing and talking about what Ally's going to wear.

Dez is happy for Ally, he really is, but something about Austin's reaction gave him a weird feeling. He thinks maybe the mention of a date made Austin remember Cassidy or something. He texts him, worried. 

**Is everything ok, bud?**

 Trish pokes Ally in her side, "Oh la la, a mysterious man. He didn't even tell you where he was going to take you."

Ally laughs and swats her hand away, "Trish! Stop that. Oh, I bet it's somewhere romantic like a moonlit dinner or maybe a concert. Cage The Elephant is coming tomorrow, maybe it's that. How cool would that be, Austin?"

She looks up from her phone when she doesn't get a response, "Where did Austin go?" 

Dez feels like a deer in headlight as he realizes the question is directed at him. He tries to think of an excuse that won't worry Ally.

"Oh, he had to leave because, um, his-his Mom, yeah, his Mom wanted him home."

Dez checks his phone. No response.

"I should probably go with him," he says quickly, "later!"

Ally pouts, "He didn't even say good-bye, but okay. Bye, Dez," she waves as he runs out of the store.

"Don't pout!" Trish says, "You have a date to worry about! Go close up and we'll go pick an outfit!"

Ally nods, forgetting about Austin, and locks the doors, racing upstairs. 

The next day, Ally can hardly stay still of excitement. School goes by agonizingly slow until she can finally go on her date with Elliot. She hardly sees Austin that day. Dez and Trish said that he had a test to finish during lunch so she didn't get to see him then, too.

It's weird not seeing him. So used to being practically joined at the hip, it feels unnatural for him not to be around. She didn't even see him in the morning since Elliot drove her to school, something Austin usually did since her car was still in her garage waiting for an oil change that her dad had said he would take care of 2 weeks ago. The one class they had together, he didn't make it because he had accidentally slept in.

She tries not to be sad so she thinks about the date she has that night and instantly, her mood is brightened.

Finally, the dismissal bell rings and she almost jumps out of her seat. She sees Elliot leaning against her locker, casual and cute as ever. They walk to his car and they chit-chat about old camp memories as he drives her straight home instead of Sonic Boom. Ally's Dad had given her a day off since she had worked so hard the day before. 

They pull into Ally's small driveway. 

"See you in an hour?"

Ally smiles and shakes her head yes, running into her room after kissing her Dad on the cheek.

Trish had helped her pick out a really cute outfit she was excited to wear.

She takes a quick shower and lets her hair air-dry while she does her make-up. She puts a nude lipstick and mascara then changes into high-waisted skinnies and a cute body suit paired with some cute heels.

She looks in the mirror. She can't believe that the person reflecting back to her is, well, _her._ She looks and feels hot. 

She takes a quick body picture and sends it to Trish who instantly replies with a text that makes Ally giggle.

Trish: **OH MY FUCKING GOD YOU LOOK SO GOOD I AM SO GREAT AT WHAT I DO WOW**

Ally spins with happiness. She literally cannot believe that she's going on a date with Elliot. She feels really good, so good she wishes she could date herself. She now understands what Austin means when he says the same thing. Austin. Just the thought of Austin makes her feel a little sad, and for some reason, makes her stomach twist and she slightly has a feeling that she forgot something important but she shuts those thoughts out quickly to not ruin her mood. Again, she thinks of the date to distract her and looks at the mirror to check how good her ass looks in the jeans.

She checks the time, anxious to be on the date already. It was 5:43 p.m. He was supposed to be there at 5:30.

She hadn't realized how fast time had flown while she was getting ready. Whether or not she needed the extra time, he was late.

Ally: **Everything ok? x**

Elliot: **omw now**

She doesn't respond. She tries not to let the fact that he was late ruin her mood but it kind of does. She finds it kind of rude, actually, but she breathes in and out, telling herself to calm down and not freak out about 10 minutes of lateness.

5 minutes later, she hears a honk outside of her house.

"Honey, he's here!" Her dad yells from downstairs where he's sat in his favorite recliner, watching a football game. 

"Coming!" she yells back, checking her hair one more time in her mirror before grabbing her jacket and purse and heading out.

He's still seated in his car with no intention of getting out and greeting her father before leaving but maybe guys like that only exist in movies, she tells herself.

Instead of letting it get to her head, she opens the car door and gets in.

"Hey!" she says smiling because regardless of anything, he looked really good. He was dressed in the same khaki pants from school but changed his white shirt to a button down that fit his body well.

"Wow, Ally, you look amazing," he says but doesn't mean. What he means is sexy, _hot_.

She blushes and puts her seatbelt on, "Thanks. So, where to?"

He can't help letting his eyes wander on how nice her body looks, even sitting down, she looks so fucking good.

But of course, Ally doesn't think of herself that way so she thinks he's staring because she has something in her teeth when he's actually looking at how kissable and sexy her lips are with the lipstick.

She covers her mouth self-consciously, "Do I have something in my teeth?"

He removes her hand, "No babe, you just look really good."

Babe? Ally could die. She almost does. She puts a strand of hair behind her ear, "Thank you. You never answered my question," she says, batting her eyelashes.

"I want to take you to go see a movie."

Almost immediately, Ally inwardly cringes. A movie? As a first date? Really? She hopes he's kidding.

"A-a movie? Like at the movie theater?"

He chuckles, "Where else would we go see a movie?"

She kind of feels like a deflated balloon, "Oh, well, I suppose that's fine-"

"Oh, this song is so good," Elliot interrupts, turning the radio up for a song Ally's never heard before.

They get to the movie theater which is packed even for a Friday night. Ally feels slightly overdressed. It makes her self-conscious so she covers up with her jacket.

Elliot doesn't even bother asking her opinion on what to watch, instead picking a movie that Ally's never heard of either. At least he has the decency to buy her movie ticket.

Elliot gets popcorn (with far too much butter, in Ally's opinion) while Ally opts for a classic pickle and they quickly find their seats. It's a popular movie, Ally notices, because the room quickly fills up.

They don't speak much once the previews start rolling which is the sole reason why Ally absolutely does not understand the movies-being-a-good-first-date-idea because the point of a first date is to get to know the person better through talking, not sitting next to them in a dark room for 2 hours.

She sighs but it goes unnoticed. Before the movie officially starts, a message from the theater itself tells them to turn off their phones for the "convenience of others trying to enjoy the film" so Ally does just that. She turns off her phone without checking any of her notifications and puts in her purse. She doesn't notice Elliot staring at her while she eats her pickle and doesn't hear his dirty thoughts.

25 minutes into the actual movie, Ally gets completely lost while everyone around her is laughing and clearly enjoying it so she just sighs again, and rests her head on her hand, getting into a comfortable position. She ignores the blasts and explosions from the movie including the laughter around her to hum a song her fingers are aching to write down and falls into a gentle, deep sleep.

"Ally? Ally? Wake up. The movie's over."

Elliot didn't even really look at Ally during the movie, he kind of forgot she was even there. He was taken by surprise when he looked over to see Ally asleep. 

He watches as she slowly blinks and opens her eyes. She stretches and yawns, not even bothered to act embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry."

He laughs, "It's okay. Let's you get home, sleepy."

She laughs and nods, "Good idea."

They listen to his music on the way back home, more music that Ally hopes she never has to hear again.

Ally asks to be dropped off at Sonic Boom. She had left her songbook the day before there and she desperately needed to write the song that had been playing in her mind before she went crazy. Once they get there, he parks the car and turns off the engine.

"Hey Ally, can I ask you something?"

Ally takes off her seat belt and turns to him, refraining from saying "You already did," opting instead for: "Sure. What's up?"

"You know, I know it's a little late and everything but I think I've got an excuse since I moved during one of the most awkward times possible," he chuckles and Ally laughs. He continues, "but I know Prom is tomorrow so I was wondering if you'd be my date?"

The mention of Prom makes her feel what she was feeling earlier, the sense that she was forgetting something but she pushes aside for the fact that she feels like she's going to die of excitement and happiness. A date? To Prom? She feels like she's on Cloud 9.

"Of course, yes!" she almost yells and throws herself on him for a hug.

She doesn't care that there's no fireworks or even a fucking flower, she's just ecstatic that Elliot asked her to be his date.

"I don't have a limo planned or anything but I'll pick you up around 7," he says once they've separated from their embrace.

She smiles and nods excitedly, "I promise it's okay. Thanks for tonight," she says and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She gets out of the car and waves at him until she can longer see him so she can freak out properly. The Promposal made her forget the horrendous date that had previously happened before. She jumps up and down and squeals a bit before calming down, and opening the doors of Sonic Boom which she notices are unlocked already. The lights are on. Maybe her Dad was working late? Except his office is empty when she checks. She goes upstairs and see's the practice room door is slightly opened. Weird. Confused, she opens it wider and immediately, her heart drops.

She feels like the stupidest, most fucked up person in the world (which was a complete 360 from how she was feeling) when she sees Austin, asleep on the piano bench.

Slowly, she walks over to shake him on the shoulder, "Austin?"

God, she doesn't even know what fucking time it is. The movie felt like it was 4 hours long. 

Slowly, he blinks himself out of sleep and stirs, "What the-Oh," he says once he can focus his eyes and sees a guilty Ally in front of him.

He gets up, without saying anything, and makes his way towards the door. Ally runs after him, "No, Austin wait, please!" 

She runs to block the door. He knows he could easily move her but he doesn't. Instead he crosses his arms over his chest and avoids eye-contact with her.

"Austin, look, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot and a horrible person and I totally forgot and I'm so sorry. Elliot took me to-"

Austin chuckles without humor, "Elliot? You forgot because you were with Elliot? Honestly, I'm not even surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks incredulously.

He takes a deep breath, "Nothing. Just get out of the way," he says taking a step closer.

"Austin, stop," she pleads. "Please look at me."

He hesitates but looks at her, the contact making Ally's breath shake. He's never seen him look so mad but aside from mad, hurt. He looks so hurt and disappointed at her.

"I texted at first and when you didn't answer, I called. You didn't answer so I called you again, again, and again. So, you were just ignoring me while you were on your little date with Elliot while I was here? Waiting for you so we could work on the song _you_ said you wanted to write, that _you_ said we would write today." 

Each word he that came out of his mouth was full of venom. She's never seen him so mad. She knows she fucked up, bad. She wishes desperately that she could rewind the day. She'd rather go to Prom Elliot-less if it meant not hurting Austin. 

She swallows back tears, "Austin, never. I would never ignore you. I had my phone turned off so I had no idea. I'm so sorry. I forgot, I don't know how, but I did. I'm sorry, so sorry, I can't explain how sorry I am, Austin, please."

Austin rolls his eyes and sighs. "It's whatever, Ally. Let's just get this stupid song over with."

Ally kind of wants to cry. He's being so cold and mean but she deserves it. She's lucky he still wants to even do the song. The song that she totally forgot about. The song they had to sing the next day in front of the entire prom.

Prom.

Elliot.

She sighs but regains her composure. If she wanted to make things right, she had to make this the best song they've ever written. 

"Okay, so. I kind of came up with a melody and some lyrics for the first verse. Do you want to hear them?"

Austin continues to avoid her gaze and just motions for her to sit down. He sits down next to her but not as close as he usually did. Ally pouts inwardly but decides to move closer to him. He doesn't move away, which is a relief.

She begins to play the chords that had been running in her mind the whole day and feels much better when she finally gets them out. She starts playing them in a sequence to come up with the melody she'd been thinking about. As she writes and plays, Austin pitches in some ideas here and there. Stuff like, "It'd be cool if we slowed it down here, huh?" "How about this cord instead?" "What if you go up here and I stay on the same note instead moving down? It'd sound better, right?" All in all, he's a fucking musical genius and Ally's so grateful for such an awesome partner.

2 hours later, they're sitting in the bean bag chairs Ally had recently bought, Austin with a guitar in hand, trying to memorize and go over the cords (even though he won't be using it, it just helps him remember) while Ally records the back track and burns it onto a CD, their song finished and close to perfect. They rehearse over and over again-mostly messing up because they forget the lyrics or they're getting used to the tempo of the backing track and time since they'll be strictly only vocals only, relying only on the backing track. They're rehearsing the song again when Ally tears up because of how emotional the song is and her voice cracks and the guilt of forgetting about Austin, the lack of sleep, the excitement of the whole day, the frustration with the song process, _everything_ , starts catching up to her and she busts out crying.

Austin pauses the track and immediately wraps her into his arms, pressing her close, and stroking her hair.

"I'm so-I'm-" she struggles to get out, getting interrupted by rising sobs. Austin presses her closer, rocking her back and forth, "Shhh, shh. It's okay, breathe first, it's okay."

He holds her for a while, until her breath slows and she stops sobbing. He rubs her scalp in little circles which he knows calms her down. Her breaking down like this isn't new. Austin knows that Ally is the type of person to not express how she feels and keeps everything bottled up inside of her until everything adds up and even the littlest thing makes her go off like a bomb.

Finally, she swallows and sighs, "Okay, I'm fine. Thank you, Austin."

He doesn't say anything, just holds her still. She takes it as a cue to go on. "I'm so sorry, Austin. I'm a horrible best friend and you're such a good person. I adore you so much, you deserve better," she says into his tear-stained shirt. He chuckles and strokes her hair again, "It's okay, Ally. Don't talk about yourself like that. It's not like I haven't made a mistake here and there, so I'll let this one slide," he jokes.

She laughs, "Thanks, Austin."

Austin's heart lurches a bit when he sees her smiling again, he wishes she could stay like that forever. Smiling and happy.

He pulls away to talk to her, his arms still around her, and says, "C'mon, let's go lay down and watch a movie. We've worked really hard today and we deserve it. We did badass, we made a badass song, and we mostly know the lyrics and we still have tomorrow to rehearse on the actual stage beforehand so everything will be okay, yeah?"

Ally smiles and nods, sleepy. They grab the blow up mattress they keep for nights like these and set it in front of the T.V. and attempt to watch "10 Things I Hate About You." Keyword: attempt. They're too busy laughing and tickling each other to pay attention, too wrapped up in their own little world. They literally pay 0 attention to the movie and before they know it, the movie is over.

"Austin! The movie!"

"Wow, that was the best movie ever," Austin says sarcastically which earns him a pillow thrown to his face by Ally who got up and turned the T.V. off along with the lights. It was for the first time that Austin _really_ saw what she wearing. He blinks twice to make sure he isn't dreaming. She looks like an ethereal angel, the clothes she has on look painted on rather than actual fabric, they fit every single curve she has. The jeans she has on look like she was poured into them and the shirt shows a bit of her cleavage which he's noticed more now, how they've gotten just a little bit bigger and perkier. How the color of the shirt contrasts against her fair skin. Her ass in those jean...unreal. Art, her body is art. He looks away when she comes back to lay down again, new emotions flooding his body.

With the lights off, there's a new feeling in the air around them that leaves both of them without a word out of their mouths. It's new, Austin's never felt it before, never experienced it. It's electric but like a safe space at the same time. They're both laying straight, facing the ceiling. Austin turns to look at Ally but Ally's already looking at him. He swallows at the shock it runs through him. He's sure she felt it, too.

He doesn't know how much time passes by, hours, days maybe, years? before he finally speaks.

"How was the date?" he almost whispers, afraid to break the fragile atmosphere.

"He took me to the movies," Ally responds with no emotion, which says it all.

The movies? Austin knew he didn't like this guy but taking his Ally to the movies for a first date? She deserves better. He refrains from saying anything negative, instead asking a question that he has more trouble with asking than he thought. "Do you really like him?"

Ally doesn't respond for a long time. The silence drags on so long that Austin thinks Ally has fallen asleep but when he turns to look at her, she's wide awake. She whispers, "I think I do. I thought I did. Yes? I don't know. He asked me to prom."

For some reason, it makes his heart rise to his throat and suffocate him. He feels a wave of emotion rush over him and he tries to place a finger on it. Suddenly, he does. Heartbreak.

When he looks over at her again, she's asleep, mouth gaped slightly.

He blames it on the lack of sleep and turns to his side and closes his eyes. He doesn't fall asleep until an hour later.


	3. anything could happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prom night. Part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. I'm sorry for the lack of update. I have had terrible writers block these past months but that's no excuse. I hate myself, I truly do. Anyways, this is a looooong chapter so I hope it makes up for it??? No? Okay, sorry. I still hope you enjoy because it is super long lol.

With the beginning of a new day comes the slow approach of the blinding sun that sends rays of hazy light through the blinds of the window of the practice room. Ally, over the course of the night, had ended up snuggled against Austin's side, the way they always did when they slept together. It was never intentional but neither of them were complaining. They would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy it but they'd never admit it. 

Before they had fallen asleep, Ally, being the responsible one, had set both their phone alarms to ring at 10 a.m. The prom started at 7 o'clock so Ally wanted to give them both enough time to get ready, which, knowing Austin, would probably need the whole 9 hours. 

When the shrilling ring of their alarms went off at the same time, they reluctantly got up, annoyed that their peaceful slumber couldn't have lasted a little bit longer.

Ally's hair is a mess and sticking up everywhere but regardless the light was hitting her in a way that made her swollen lips and puffy eyes-a side effect of waking up- look like they were sculpted meticulously and carefully by the hands of the god that created everything ethereal, or at least that's what Austin was thinking as he watched her. He shakes his head out of his reverie and blames the thought on his brain not being fully awake.  

He's distracted suddenly by the sound of a ping coming from his phone, muffled under the pillows. He grabs and unlocks it, momentarily blinded by the brightness of his screen. He blinks his eyes to adjust and realizes it was a text from Trish in their groupchat that composed of Austin, Ally, Dez, and Trish. 

Trish: **WAKEY WAKEY PROM AND A** **PERFORMANCE TODAY**

Austin looks up from his phone and looks at Ally who is also on her phone, following along on the conversation, "I think someone stole Trish's phone. Our Trish would never wake up at 10 in the morning, especially on a Saturday." 

Ally laughs and rolls her eyes, her attention back on her phone when another text comes in. 

Dez: **stfu pls, according to my alarm, i still have another 3 hours and 16 minutes til i am needed to be awoken. P.S. I'M NOT SICK ANYMORE**

Trish: **dez, didn't u go to sleep at like 5 p.m.  p.s. no one cares**

Dez: **u don't understand, i need at least 25 hours of sleep to function normally.**

Trish: **that explains a lot...we have to be there beforehand so make sure you guys are ready an hour or so before, we have to set up and everything. see you then.**

Ally: **Lol, you guys are losers...but okay, we know. You've only reminded us about a thousand times.**

Austin:  **I'd say more like a million lol**

Trish:  ** _*3 middle finger emojis*_**

With that, Austin locks his phone then puts it in the back pocket of his jeans, "I should probably head out. I still have to pick up my pants from the dry cleaners and my mom isn't letting me go until I clean my room." Austin's pants had been way too short when he had tried them on but he had been with Cassidy when he was shopping for a suit and she insisted he buy those pair because they made his ass look, as she would say, "absolutely scrumptious." At that point, he wasn't even going to try to argue because what Cassidy wanted, she would go through hell and back for so he didn't even try to protest. Of course he had felt a little weird about wearing the suit that they had bought to match Cassidy's dress when they weren't together anymore but he hadn't had time to buy another suit. Plus, she had a point, they did make his ass look good. 

Ally yawns and stretches before responding, "Okay. I'll probably stay here and record some more CD's. By the way, I recorded it on my phone so I could practice. I'll send it to you, if you want, so you can, too." 

Austin smirks, "Even if you do, I probably won't." 

Ally punches him softly on the arm, eyes fond, "I know." 

Austin pulls her into a one-armed embrace, "You know me so well. See you later, dork. We're going to kill it." 

Ally chuckles nervously, "Yeah, I hope so." 

It wasn't until she heard the front doors of Sonic Boom close that she sat down on the bed, head in hands. She'd be lying to herself if she said she wasn't shitting her pants just thinking about performing in front of their whole class. The worry was comforted with the reassuring thought that Austin was going to be by her side. It was brought back when she remembered she was going with Elliot as her date. She wiped her clammy hands on her jeans and took a deep breath, enveloped with the feeling of butterflies in her stomach, mean and steroid-filled butterflies that kicked and punched at her sides. She doesn't understand where it's coming from, instead she focuses her energy on recording the CD's and to distract her, she practices her part over and over.

It was an emotional song, slow, and not as lyrically important since they decided the focus should be on the emotion of how they sang it. Not that the lyrics weren't good because they were, it is by far one of Ally's favorites she has written so far. Austin fell in love with it too. 

After she realizes that she's recorded enough CD's to last them 6 months, she texts the recording to Austin, just in case, and heads downstairs.

Usually at this time and it being a Saturday, the store would be filled with curious customers and music lovers but since the only other person who worked there besides her was in high school too, Lester, Ally's dad, decided to close for the day.

Since she still had a long time left before getting ready and she didn't want to get ready too early, she really had nothing to do. She looked down at her nails and was satisfied with the shape and color of them; almond-shaped and a peachy nude. She had gotten them done last week with Trish who had opted for a crazier design.

Suddenly, her phone goes off, indicating another text message. _Jeez_ , Ally thinks, _no one calls anymore_. Speaking of the curly-haired Latina, it was a text from Trish. 

Trish: **come over i wanna get ready together!!!!**

Ally is mid-reply when she realizes that Elliot had said he'd pick her up at her house. She quickly texts him that she'd meet him at the school instead and responds to Trish.

**Let me take a shower first then I'll head over there! :)**

Trish responds with a bunch of emojis while Elliot only replies with " **ok.** "

Ally hopes she didn't upset him but forgets it as she walks home. Her house was only a 5 minute walk from the music store which was super convenient and another reason Lester didn't think twice about buying the store, something Ally will always be grateful for. The music store was more of her home, really, than anything. It was where she went everyday after school, where her dad was most of the time, and where most of her favorite memories were made with Dez, Trish, and Austin. Austin, who she had spent more time with than anybody and who played a colossal part in her favorite memories to make them her favorite.  

The excitement of the night was creeping up on her and she couldn't help but a feel a little giddy as she blasted her music and sang her lungs out in the shower. Once she was done, she wrapped the fluffiest towel she owned around her smooth, newly-shaven and waxed body, and stepped out of her restroom, releasing a cloud of steam into her bedroom. She was sure she had taken about 45 minutes in the shower. 

She threw some shorts and tank top on and gathered up her stuff. The only stuff she needed to bring was her shoes, dress, and her performance outfit since Trish had enough make-up and hair products to provide for everyone in Miami. She texted Trish, " **i'll be there in 10** " and went downstairs and met her dad in the kitchen, making himself a peanut butter and jelly (extra jelly).

He looks up upon her arrival and raises his eyebrows, "I wouldn't exactly call that something you'd wear for Prom, but each to their own. Do you want a sandwich?" 

Ally rolls her eyes and holds up the garment bag with her dress in it, "I'm getting ready at Trish's and no, thanks." 

"Oh, okay," he says taking a bite of his sandwich, "Make sure to take pictures and send them to me, your mom would kill me otherwise." 

Ally chuckles then kisses her Dad on his cheek, "Of course. Love you." 

"Love you, too, Alls."

Once she gets to Trish's house, she finds the curly haired girl with her aforementioned curly hair in a towel, her cheetah print robe, and a mud mask. 

Ally doesn't even get a chance to put her stuff down before Trish grabs her hands and they're jumping and down in excitement at the fact that Prom night was finally here. It was the night that they had talked about and planned since they were little girls. They had always envisioned going with their Prince Charming's and that they'd travel there in a magical horse-drawn carriage as doves flew behind them-they've always had over-reactive imaginations-. Sure, it wasn't really as they had planned since Elliot was far from Prince Charming and Trish didn't have a date, they were going in their own cars, and any dove that would fly behind them would also pose the hazard of pooping on them.

Once they calm down, they get to work. While Trish does her hair (it's a long process, first she has to blow-dry it, then brush it, then straighten it, then curl it again) Ally shows her the recording of her and Austin singing the song that she had recorded on her phone. It was titled, "Two in a Million." 

When the song is over, Trish puts her brush down and turns around from where she's sitting down in front of her vanity mirror to look at Ally who's sitting down on Trish's bed. Trish looks shocked, face expressionless. Ally's heart drops because she expects Trish to say she hates it. 

Instead, she says, "You really expect me to believe that you wrote that in one night?" 

Oh. Ally's brows furrow in confusion. 

Trish scoffs, "Ally, that is one of the best songs I've ever heard. It sounds like something from the The Titanic, literally." 

Ally breaks out into a huge smile, "Oh my god, really? Oh my god, thank you so much! Yeah, we did it last night. It's one of my favorite..."she trails off as she thinks about the night and her face immediately falls. 

Trish is taken back by her best friend's sudden change of mood, "What's wrong?" 

Ally hesitates. "We kind of got into a fight before we wrote it." 

Trish's eyes widen, it wasn't rare to hear Austin and Ally argue. In fact, it's what most of their relationship consisted of so Trish knows it must've been really bad if Ally was still upset about it."What happened?"  

"I totally forgot I had told him that we'd work on the song last night because of the whole date thing and he got really mad. I felt so bad." 

"You talked about it though, right?" 

"Well, at first he didn't want to talk about it so we just started working on the song. It wasn't until we finished the song that we properly talked about it." 

Trish chuckles, "I mean, I'm glad you made up and everything but damn. You guys should fight more often when you're writing a song. It's so romantic and so beautiful. I mean, I know they asked for a love song but you guys took it to the extreme." Trish pokes Ally on her side, "Was a certain person on your mind while you were writing it? Someone whose name starts with an 'E' and ends with an 'lliot?'" 

Ally pushes her hands away, laughing, "No, Trish. I don't know. Austin just kept coming up with these beautiful lyrics and I had this melody that I had made up the whole time I was with Elliot-" 

Trish puts a hand up, "Woah, woah, wait. You were writing a song while you were on your date? I'm guessing it didn't go well?" 

Ally chuckles, "Well, it was kind of easy since he took me to a movie." 

Trish nearly falls out of her chair, "What? A movie?!" 

"I know, he said it was going to be a surprise so I didn't question it. When I saw it was a movie, I didn't know how to say no. I fell asleep," Ally says sheepishly. 

Trish responds, "You fell asleep?!" 

Ally laughs and puts her head in her hands, "Ugh, yes." She raises her head once she remembers Prom, "Oh my god, Trish. I forgot to tell you! He asked me to prom!" 

Trish's mouth drops, "What?! No way?! What'd you say?" 

"I said yes." 

Trish starts to straighten her hair, eyes wide open like she's still trying to wrap her head around it, "Woah, Ally. That all happened so fast, woah. I literally can't believe it. It seems so rushed." 

Ally sighs, "I know. I guess I'm jumping in so quick because we used to be so close and I've had the hugest crush on him and it felt like destiny or fate or whatever. But then again, it's been years since camp and he's so, I don't know, different from how he used to be." 

"Yeah, I get what you mean but people can change. Look at you, you used to want to throw up at even the thought of being in front of a crowd and now you're about to sing in front of 300 hundred people," Trish says, admiration for her best friend evident in her voice, "I'm so proud of you." 

Ally smiles, blushing, "Thank you. It means a lot. I couldn't have done it without you, or Dez. And Austin, especially Austin. To be honest with you, I wouldn't have the guts to do this if he wasn't singing right there next to me." 

Trish smiles softly at Ally, she always got a certain glint in her eyes when she spoke about Austin, it was endearingly weird but she never questioned it.  

Ally shakes her head and sighs again, coming back to the topic of Elliot, "I mean, I know feelings change but when I saw him for that first time, it felt like nothing had changed but catching up with him, obviously everything has. He's different and so I am, so I think I'm just going to stop over-thinking it and give it a chance. Who knows, maybe it'll work out?" 

"Well, whatever happens, I fully support it. I know how much you liked him, when you came back from camp, I remember how you wouldn't stop talking about him. Plus, he's cute." 

Ally smiles and laughs, "Ugh, I know. Don't remind me. But, thanks, Trishy. I love you." 

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the sappy stuff. Okay, now, let me finish up my hair and then we'll start on that rats nest you call hair." 

"Heeeeeeey." 

***

"Ally, we look so hot," Trish says, 2 and a half hours later, as they look into the full-body mirror, twisting and turning to check out every angle. 

Trish's loose-waved hair is pulled back into a ponytail, little ringlets of hair framing her bronzed up face. Her make-up is dramatic and compliments the turquoise dress perfectly. The dress itself is dramatic enough; the sweetheart neck top has a sequined bust that cascades all the way into a puffy skirt that ends at the top of her ankles, showing off the diamond encrusted heels she has on that make her about 4 inches taller. 

Ally had requested a more subtle, softer look since she wanted her dress to be the main focus. It was a floor length gold satin gown that had a thigh slit that showed off (one of) her legs nicely and showed a large portion of her back. She still couldn't believe the luck she had when she found it at a fucking  _thrift_ shop. Of course, there had been a couple stains but it was nothing that detergent and cold water couldn't handle. Her hair was split in the middle, like it always was, and curled into loose, full curls. Her make-up was pretty natural, her face was just a bit contoured and a nude, glossy lip, but when it came to her eyes, it was a completely different story. Her eye shadow was a blended, natural brown but it was the thick black wing liner and the dramatic, full lashes, and the black in the water line that made her eyes the focal point. 

Ally is basically bursting at the seams, excitement filling her veins, "I know, and it's all because of you and your makeup magic. Now let's take pictures before I ruin this which will inevitably happen." 

Trish laughs, "I'll kill you Ally Dawson. Stop talking about it, you're going jinx it. You need your makeup to last until your performance." 

Ally smiles, "I'll try. Now, let's take some pictures on my phone before we go downstairs." 

They take a couple selfies before they go downstairs where Trish's whole family is waiting with cameras. They all whistle and cheer as they come down the stairs, Trish and Ally just laugh and pose for each one. Trish has a pretty big family so it takes them a while before they get outside.

Ally makes her way to Trish's yellow Volkswagen Beetle but Trish stops her, "We're not driving in my car." 

Ally furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean? Is your Mom taking us?" 

Trish checks the time on her phone, "No, Dez is." 

Ally opens her mouth to say something but stops when Dez pulls up, as if on cue, in his Mom's beat up mini-van. With half of a honey bun in his hand, and the other half in his mouth, he says, "Hey ladies. Looking fabulous. Hop in!" 

Ally glances at Trish who just shrugs, "My dress wouldn't fit in my car. It was a last minute thing." 

Ally just rolls her eyes and opens the car door and gets in, Trish taking the passenger seat. Ally carefully lays the clear garment bag that was carrying her performance outfit next to her, careful to not create any wrinkles. 

"Ew, Dez. Why is there empty ice cream tubs everywhere?" Trish asks, in annoyance. 

Dez, in a painfully bright orange suit, responds, "Sorry. I watched _Marley and Me_ last night and couldn't stop crying so I ate ice cream to ease my heart break," he sighs theatrically, "Poor Marley, I'll never forget him."

"I don't even know why I asked. Just drive, Dez."

Dez does as told, and drives off, "It's okay, Trish. I wouldn't expect you understand since you have no heart."

Trish takes this as a compliment, "Awww, thanks, Dez."

Ally rolls her eyes at her friends, in need of the one person in her group of friends that didn't make her want to beat her head against the nearest wall, "Where's Austin? Is he not riding with us?" 

"Nah, he was supposed to. I was waiting for him outside his house for like 10 minutes and I text him like 'is everything ok' and he comes out of his house, in his boxers, on the verge of tears because he ran out of his favorite hair gel so he said he'd go buy some and to meet him there," Dez says, with a shrug. 

Okay, Ally thinks, maybe the one person who doesn't make her want to bang her head against a wall _as much_. 

When they get to the school, the parking lot is mostly empty. They were there an hour before the Prom started because Dez was in charge of the theater club who were going to handle the logistics part of it since so he had to get his equipment ready, Trish, as their manager, had to make sure everything was set up properly, and Ally, and a late Austin Moon, had to do a mic-check and rehearse a little. They were going to be performing before they announced Prom Queen and King, which Austin was nominated for. Ally had been nominated as well but had dropped out. If she won, she would have to go up in front of the entire school again. One time was enough for her.

The only thing that bothered Ally-besides the fact that they were going to be be performing in front of hundreds of people-was that she'd have to change in and out of her prom dress and into a completely different outfit while all Austin had to do was take off his blazer. Trish had decided to make it that way since Austin had a really good chance of winning Prom King so she didn't want Austin to rush in having to change back into another outfit. Ally understood but it still bothered her. 

Their gym which is where the Prom was going to be taking place, which usually smelled like dirty, sweaty socks, was completely transformed into a breath-taking "Under the Stars" themed setting. The usual dull gray walls were adorned with paper cutouts of the moon, stars, and buildings, strands full of stars hung from the ceiling, and the entrance from which they walked through was an arbor made out of metal that was intertwined with twinkly lights. There were projectors placed in each corner of the room pointed towards the ceiling that created the illusion as if there was no roof at all and they were really under a plethora of moving stars. Ally was stunned of the beauty of it all, she had been one of the people that had voted to have "Under the Stars" theme and the Prom committee did not disappoint one bit. She made a mental note to commend them later about it. 

Their Principal, Ms.Clemmons, when they see her, is fixing one of the centerpieces on one of the many round circles placed around the room. Her usual business attire was replaced with an elegant, red, cocktail dress. 

She looks up when she hears their footsteps, the centerpiece forgotten, "Oh, good evening, ladies-" Dez clears his throat, "And, of course, gentlemen. Who could forget you, Mr.Wade? You all look lovely." 

They all respond with their "thank you's," Dez smirking a little too much to be normal. While Trish compliments Ms.Clemmons' shoes, the red-head nudges Ally and says, "I always knew Ms.Clemmons had a thing for me." 

Ally's eyes widen, "Dez, gross," she whispers, incredulously, thankful that their principal was too busy talking to Trish to hear Dez's ridiculous comment. 

Ms.Clemmons suddenly turns her attention to Ally, "Miss Dawson, Trish was just telling me that the song you and Mr.Moon have created is quite splendid. We're all excited to hear it. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful." 

Ally glances at Trish with an appreciative smile before turning back to Ms.Clemmons, "Thank you, I appreciate that. We can't wait to play it!"

Ally had e-mailed Ms.Clemmons a copy of the lyrics to the song the moment they had finished writing it as per her request to revise it and make sure it was "appropriate" for a school dance. It had been a bit risky since that's the only song they had and if Ms.Clemmons didn't like it, they'd be left with nothing but Austin had assured Ally that it was "family-friendly" enough, which according to Ms.Clemmons, they were. 

"Speaking of Mr.Moon, where is he?" Ms.Clemmons asks, craning her neck to look behind Ally as if Austin's 6 foot frame could be hidden by Ally's much shorter 5'2 body. 

Dez responds, saying, "Oh, he kind of got held up. He'll be here, though."

Ally bites back a smile. If only their principal knew that the reason he was late was because of hair gel. 

Ms.Clemmons checks her watch with a look of impatience, "Well, he better be," She looks back up and claps her hands, "Okay, well, with or without Mr.Moon, we're going to have to start setting up. You all know what to do, chop-chop." 

With that, everyone splits up and goes to their appropriate place. Dez meets up with some of the other theater kids who hide behind the guise of underclassmen wanting to volunteer to help but in reality they just wanted to have the party experience of upperclassmen. Trish, does what Trish does best, and bosses them around. Ally walks up the small set of stairs that lead to the stage which has also been decorated to match the theme. It sets a sort of romantic atmosphere which is perfect for the song they'll be singing. Ally likes it a lot. She knows Austin will like it, too.

The thought of Austin sends a shock of anxiety through her body when she realizes he might not show up at all and she'd have to sing all alone. She quickly dismisses the thought, it's Austin she's talking about. He'd never do anything like that. She pulls her phone out from her clutch purse and opens her messages to send a text to Austin, just to make sure. Before she can even finish typing a word, Ms.Clemmons voice booms from the speakers, causing Ally to jump and accidentally type random letters. She hits send accidentally and unknowingly. "MISS DAWSON, PLEASE PUT YOUR PHONE UP." Ally quickly puts the phone back in her clutch, "Yes, Ms.Clemmons, sorry." She hears snickers from some of the theater kids and gives them a mean glare.

For the next fifteen minutes, Ally has to practice with a sophomore who doesn't really take his eyes off Ally's ass the whole time. They've had him fill in Austin's place so the the people in charge of the lights could figure out where their placement would be best during the actual performance. They mostly are asked to stand in certain spots and then are moved around again. It's all very boring for Ally. After they're done with that and colorful tape has been placed in the form of an "X" to mark their official spots of where they'll be standing, Ally thinks they're done but then some theater kids carry up two microphone stands and place them in front of each of the "X's" and then Ally is handed a microphone. Ms.Clemmons almost makes Ally sing the song by herself but that was the last thing Ally wanted to do, so she assures their principal that they've practiced a thousand times and that they sound fine. Ms.Clemmons agrees but only if Ally and the sophomore sing the "A-B-C's" since they still had to do a mic-check which was embarrassing enough but way better than singing by herself.

The mic-check lasted longer than intended because, as luck would have it and much to her annoyance, Ally's microphone projected barely any sound. Getting it to work again took the Dez and the theater kids anothe 15 minutes to fix it while Ally continued to just stand there and sing The Alphabet Song when requested, which was every 5 minutes. They finally get it to work and Ally thinks that the next time she hears the stupid, childish song will be too soon. 

It's about 6:45 when Ms.Clemmons comes on the stage and takes the sophmore's microphone from him, tapping gently on it to get everyone's attention, "Great job, everybody. Because of all of your hard work and our wonderful volunteers, I'm more than sure that Mr.Moon's and Miss Dawson's performance will be amazing. I thank you all for helping. We have 15 minutes until they open door for the Prom. Make your final touches and then make sure to close the curtain. Thank you, again."

You can almost hear everyone's breath of relief, Ally's especially. She's been wanting to text Austin the whole time, she was starting to worry. She begins to make her way down the stairs, opening her clutch purse to get her phone when all of sudden Trish's voice comes from behind her, "Ally! Where do you think you're going?"

Ally almost wants to stomp her feet in annoyance, like a child. She just wants to know where Austin is. 

She stops where she is and turns around slowly, "I was going to make a quick call." 

Trish scoffs, "There's no time for phone calls! Where's your outfit for the performance?"

"I gave it to Dez before I got on stage-" 

Ally doesn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Trish is shouting, "DEZ!" 

Ally doesn't even get a chance to react before Dez comes running up the stairs, a blur of orange, to the stage and in front of Trish. 

Even with Trish's very high heels, she is still so much shorter than the red-head. She's barely over his shoulder. 

"Where is Ally's performance outfit?" 

"Oh, I put it backstage." 

"Perfect," says Trish, "Thanks, now go away." 

Dez does as told and scampers back down the stairs to rejoin the theater kids. Seriously, sometimes Ally can't believe her best friends but she wouldn't have it any other way. 

Trish is about to speak but is cut off when she hears people start to come in from the entrance, their voices mashed together into a loud chatter. Ally turns to the sound of the curtain closing, cutting off the view of the stage. 

"Oh, I guess they opened the doors a little bit early," Trish says. "Go backstage and make sure your performance outfit is somewhere secure and I'll see you later. I just saw Jace come in." Jace was a guy in their Physics class that Trish had a crush on.

She's about to walk down the stairs before she turns around abruptly, "Oh, I almost forgot." She tilts her head back to give Ally a clear view of her nostrils, "Am I clear?" Ally checks thoroughly, "Yep, go get him, tiger." Trish winks before walking down the stairs and disappearing into the crowd of people. Ally turns her head away when she sees how many there are, a feeling of nausea rising up that she forces down. 

She goes between the closed curtains and into the door that leads to the dimly lit backstage area full of wires, machines, and a bunch of props from old productions. She spots her garment bag hanging on a tree made out of cardboard whose paint is peeling off. She supposes that's a good enough place to keep it since no one will really be there besides her and some of the theater kids.

 _Now that that's done_ , she thinks, _I can finally call Austin._  

She pulls out her phone but huffs in annoyance when she sees that she has no service. She swears there's a higher power that simply does not want her to communicate with Austin. She goes back through the door and through the curtains, back on stage where she has service. She's about to unlock her phone when all of a sudden she hears someone shout her name. 

She turns around to the sound, exasperated, "Oh, for the love of-" She stops when she realizes its Elliot and her eyes widen. Oh shit. She had totally forgotten about him, she seems to do that a lot. 

Elliot smiles up at her from below the stage and chuckles, "Bad timing?" 

Ally fixes her composure quickly, putting her phone back in her clutch.

"No, no, not at all. I was just checking the, um, the time," she says as she walks down the stairs to meet him. He's dressed in a traditional black tux with a blue tie, looking absolutely handsome, holding a plastic container that had a big, white rose in it.

She smiles, "Is that for me?" 

He nods, opening the box, and taking out of the corsage. He grabs Ally's hand and gently puts it on her wrist. 

Ally looks up at him, "I love it, it's beautiful." 

He smiles down at her, eyes raking her body up and down, "Just like you." 

Ally blushes and she swears her heart will burst.

He holds his hand out, which she takes, and he leads them to the dance floor.

While they dance to a slow ballad, Ally's head is resting on Elliot's chest, unaware that his eyes are another person who is staring back. 


	4. the knowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prom Night. Part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at updating, I know but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think!!! Any comment is much appreciated!!

Elliot and Ally spend the next 45 minutes dancing to the music blaring from the speakers that make the bass from each song feel like Ally's nervous heartbeat. The deep, rumbling bass feels like it lives in Ally's rib cage. The gym quickly fills up and it makes Ally more than glad that the A/C is on because she knows that without it, plus all the body heat, she'd probably be a melted puddle on the floor by this point.

She tries to ignore looking at all of the people around them because looking at them reminds her of the inevitable performance and the performance reminds her of the lack of Austin. She feels super anxious because Austin _has_ to be there somewhere and she'd feel so much better if she could just see him but she knows that's wrong to think when she has her hands wrapped around Elliot. It's an innocent thought but she knows that if Elliot knew she had been thinking about Austin the whole time they were together, he wouldn't take it as innocent. So she pushes the thought of Austin to the back of her mind. 

Well, she tries. 

It works for the meantime but her eyes constantly and restlessly wander in search for a tall figure with blonde hair. Elliot doesn't notice, which she's grateful for. Ally feels a little guilty because she knows she should be focusing on Elliot but all she wants to do is to see Austin. She feels like a horrible prom date but Elliot doesn't seem to mind. What Ally doesn't know or realize that his mind, is too, preoccupied with the thought of someone else. 

They're slow-dancing to "Thinking About You" by The Ariana Grande, Ally softly mouthing the lyrics as she rests her head on his shoulder. They're swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the song when Elliot suddenly perks up. He takes a step back from Ally as he lets go of her. Ally looks up at him in confusion and sees that he's staring towards the table full of drinks and sweets that's surrounded by hungry/thirsty people. His eyes lock on something (or rather, _someone_ ) that Ally can't see his and his pupils darken. It reminds Ally of a lion getting ready to attack. 

As if breaking out of his trance, he shakes his head softly and refocuses his eyes on Ally, confusion etched on her features. He grabs her small hand, "I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want something?" 

Ally shakes her head, "No, thanks." 

He kisses her hand, "I'll be right back." 

Ally finds it really weird that he looked so determined for a damn drink but pushes the thought aside because now that Elliot's gone, she has time to look for Austin. She gets on her tip-toes and stretches her neck to be able to see over the crowd but it's useless. She makes her way through them when she a red-head dancing awkwardly in a group of people catches her attention. "Dez!"

Dez looks around to find the source of the voice and his face lights up immediately when he finds the short brunette. He motions her over. As she gets closer, she realizes that the people are actually the underclassmen that helped set-up earlier and are dancing just as awkward.

"Hey, Ally! Are you having fun?" 

"Yeah, tons. Have you seen Austin?" 

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I just saw him when I was in the restroom. He was looking for you, too." 

Ally feels a huge wave of relief because at least she knows he's actually here. "Thank you so much! Let me go find him." 

"No problem. Hey, by the way. My buddy Tristan was wondering if he could have your number. I know you're with Elliot and all, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

Ally's brows furrow. "Tristan?" 

Dez points behind Ally. She turns to see the sophomore who she had had to practice with when they were setting up (and who, quite frankly, had been staring at her ass the whole time) doing the whip. She immediately turns back around to Dez and scrunches her nose in distaste. 

"Um, no, thanks." 

Dez shrugs, "Doesn't hurt to try. Good luck finding Austin. See you later for the performance." 

She smiles up at him, "Thanks, Dez. See you later." 

She makes her way towards the restroom when all of a sudden she feels a tap on her shoulder from behind. She automatically assumes that it's Austin and her heart drops but when she turns around, her mouth opens in disbelief when she sees Ed with a large, black, and horrifyingly fake mustache. She quickly closes her mouth and resists the urge to laugh in Ed's face. She knows Austin is going to die of laughter when he sees that Ed actually took his fake advice. "Ed, hi. Have you seen Austin?" 

Ed raises an eyebrow as he grabs Ally's hand, completely ignoring her question. "Ally, my darling. No, I have not." He brings her hand up to his mouth and gives it a kiss. Ally quickly retracts her hand away in disgust which goes unnoticed. "I'm rather surprised that you'd be asking about your pal, Austin, at a time like this. Do you notice anything different about me?"

Ally fakes a smile, "Yes, Ed. You look very handsome."

Ed almost faints, "Wow. Gee, thanks, Ally. Austin told me that you liked mustaches so I tried to grow my own but that didn't work out so well since he told me on such short notice so I went to my nearest convenience store and bought 3. This one fits my face better, though. Don't you think?"

Ally, who had been beginning to zone out from Ed's talking, is about to respond when out of the corner of her eye, she sees Elliot. She turns her head to see that he is not alone. Some girl is whispering into his ear and they're far too close, in Ally's eyes, for it to be friendly. She feels a sudden burn in her chest. Ignoring Ed's question, she says, "Excuse me, Ed," and walks towards the pair, leaving Ed looking after her with a pout on his face. It quickly disappears when a pretty girl walks by him. He quickly follows suit. 

Elliot notices Ally walking towards them out of the corner of his eye and quickly steps away from the girl, cursing under his breath. Ally notices and looks at the girl who seems to be smirking. She doesn't recognize her but Ally notes that she is very attractive. Her dark skin looks smooth and dewy and reminds her of dark chocolate and the yellow dress she is wearing hugs her every curve. Ally immediately feels like trash next to her but doesn't let it show on her face. She raises her head just the slightest bit in hopes of coming off as confident and unbothered. She grabs Elliot's arm as if to claim what is hers. "Elliot, who is this?" 

"Jada, this is Ally. Ally, this is Jada from my Government class. I knew her from my last school. Crazy, right?"

Something about the way Elliot speaks the girl's name and way Jada is looking at him makes Ally believe that they used to date when they went to school together. 

Ally crosses her arms self-consciously and huffs, "Yeah, small world." 

"It is, isn't it? Well, Jada, I'll see you around." 

Jada smiles back at him, and responds. "Of course. Nice to meet you...Callie, is it?" 

Ally narrows her eyes, "Ally, and likewise." 

Elliot grabs Ally's hand and leads her back to the dance floor. He puts one hand on her waist and grabs her hand with is other but Ally is really not in the mood. She hates it but she feels insecure. Damn that beautiful girl with pretty hair and a pretty body and a pretty smile that had Elliot in a trance. 

"So much for getting a drink, huh?" She says it with much more acid than intended. 

"What do you mean?" 

Ally resists the urge to roll her eyes. 

"Ally, what's up? What's with the face?" 

Ally sighs and pouts, "Nothing. Jada is very pretty." She hates how small her voice sounds. 

Elliot puts a strand of hair behind Ally's ear, "Yeah, she is. But you're prettier. You're the most beautiful girl here." 

Ally bites her lip in order to not smile. "You really mean that?" 

Elliot nods. "Of course I do. Why would I not?" 

Ally is about to respond with "Maybe because you were eye-fucking Jade right in front of me" but is interrupted by Trish, who she hadn't seen since she went to be with Jace. "Ally, you and Austin are on in 15 minutes. Go change! I'll see you backstage." 

Ally's eyes immediately widen, she had forgotten about the performance. Her heart began to flutter. Then she remembered Austin. Austin. She would finally get to see him. She turns back to Elliot from staring at Trish's retreating figure. Breathless, she whispers, "I'm about to perform."

Elliot smiles, "Yes, you are. And you're going to do amazing. I hope you'll sing to me. My eyes will be on you the whole time."

For some reason, that statement makes Ally's heart skip a beat. "I will, of course I will."

"Good luck, babe. You're going to kill it."

All the anger she felt towards him about Jade disappears as does the insecurity and she feels so much better. She kisses him on the cheek before walking out of the gym and to the door that leads backstage.

She walks in and her heart drops when she finds it empty. She was expecting Austin to be there. She walks in and runs her hand over the plastic garment bag that contained the clothes that were waiting to be worn and performed in. The curtains are closed but she knows that in 15 minutes, they'll be open and their whole senior class will be on the other side waiting to see them sing. She walks up to the curtain, her heels clacking loudly on the hard floor, and parts the curtain slightly, just enough to be able to see everyone. She's never performed in front of so many people. She feels her heart rise up to her throat.

Suddenly a voice comes from behind her, "Ally."

Ally immediately turns around and feels her heart beat like the wings of a bird. It's Austin. She was too busy looking through the curtain that she didn't hear the door open and close.

"Austin."

She feels all the nervousness leave her body almost instantly as she looks into the hazel eyes that make her feel so safe yet she feels her heart is beating so loudly. The room is so quiet, she almost worries that he can hear it. 

What he wants to say: _I finally found you. All I wanted to see was your face. You look beautiful. Everyday makes it harder to believe you are real, especially right now. Usually I have enough self-control to not let show how much I mean this but I'm being tested today. It shouldn't be fair for someone to look so pretty._

What he actually says, "Ally, I've been looking for you everywhere."

Austin is breathless. The second his eyes locked with Ally's, all the air inside of him was knocked out. He can't believe. He wishes he could use a better word to describe how she looks, beautiful didn't even come close. 

He hopes and prays that it's normal for someone to feel this way towards their best friend as the feeling that he had felt the night before while they were lying side by side in the practice room seeps in and the atmosphere feels thick, electric. 

Ally shuts her mouth which she didn't even notice was open. He looks like he came straight out of a painting that belonged in the fanciest museum who only few had the privilege of seeing. He was wearing a maroon suit that fit his body perfectly. "I've been looking for you everywhere, too. Like crazy." He looked like the sculpture of a prince. He looked so good and he was there, finally. She was so fucking relieved and happy to see him. "Where have you been?" 

The question brings Austin back to Earth, "Oh, well. It's complicated. I had to go buy a new hair gel and then right when I got here, Ms.Clemmons gave me a lecture about being late and then I bumped into Cassidy and we started arguing, so, obviously, my Prom has just been great so far." His voice was etched with sarcasm.

Ally feels a pang of sympathy for Austin and chuckles, "Sorry, Austin. That sucks."

He shrugs then raises his eyebrows when he remembers something he had meant to ask Ally about. He pulls out his phone and opens his text messages with her, showing her his most recent one. He holds out for her to see it. 

"Why did you send me this?" 

Ally takes the large iPhone 7 out of his hands and see's a text from her that says, " **kdfjsfhoewf@dfd#I^%.** " 

She worries for a split second that maybe someone had hacked her phone or stolen it but then remembers that she had wanted to text him when she had been on stage practicing. She hands him back the phone, "I was about to text you but then Ms.Clemmons told me to put my phone up out of the speakers and it scared the fuck out of me," She laughs, "I must've typed that and sent it without knowing. Sorry." 

Austin laughs, "When I saw it, I thought it was some kind of code. I looked it up on google and everything. What were you going to text me?"

"I was going to ask you where you were. I was kind of worried that you weren't going to show up. I was scared I would've had to perform by myself." 

Austin's face turns serious and he walks closer to Ally. She hadn't realized how far away he had been standing. "I'd never do something like that to you, you know that." 

"I know but it didn't stop me from freaking out all night. I know you probably think I'm being dramatic but I'm serious when I say how I could cry out of relief know that you're right in front of me," she says half-jokingly. 

"What about Elliot?" he asks. 

The question and the mention of Elliot takes her back like a slap to the face that wakes her up to reality. Reality being that her and Austin weren't the only ones in the world, no matter how much it felt like it when they were alone, and that Elliot was on the other side of the curtain as her Prom date. She had totally forgotten about him which was nothing new. She still felt guilty. She blinks. 

"Oh, Elliot. Right. Um, yeah, I was with him and everything, but I still worried," she dry chuckles, again, "A lot." 

He doesn't say anything but he feels really guilty. She see's that on his face and walks up to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "But, it's okay now because you're here now and that's all that matters." She pulls him closer into a hug which he quickly reciprocates. Just smelling his cologne, such a familiar scent to her, makes her feel so much better. She holds him tighter.

"You look beautiful," he says into her hair, so softly she almost doesn't hear it but she does. 

She laughs quietly, cheeks red, "Thank you, Austin. You do, too." 

Suddenly, the door slams open, causing Austin and Ally to both jump. They both turn to see it's Trish, a look of annoyance on her face. 

"Ally, I told you to change, like, 7 minutes ago. What are you doing? You're on in less than 10 minutes, you know that, right?" 

Ally looks at Austin instinctively at the mention of the performance and he sees the fear in her eyes. Trish, always the one who didn't believe in emotions, rolls her eyes and claps her hands, "Come on, we don't have much time." 

Austin looks into Ally's eyes, hoping that they say "Everything is going to be fine." As if she understands, she nods her head and swallows the anxiety rising up her throat. She grabs her garment bag and looks at Austin a final time before leaving the backstage area and heading into the nearest restroom to change. 

Austin watches her retreating figure until he hears the backstage door completely shut then turns to see Trish staring at him crazily. 

"What?" 

"Why do you always look at each other like that when one of you leave?" 

Austin furrows his dark brows, "Like what?" 

"Like when one of you leave, you're taking a piece of the others heart with you. It's gross." Trish's nose is scrunched in disgust, "You guys are weird." 

Austin scoffs, "So are you and Dez!" 

"Maybe but Dez and I hate each other."

Austin rolls his eyes because he knows that's a complete lie. 

Trish continues, "Anyways, speaking of that red-headed doof, I have to get him. I'll be right back and when I am, Ally better be ready to go." 

She's about to leave when Austin yells out, "You look pretty, by the way." 

Trish yells back, "I know," and closes the door. 

 

*** 

When Ally comes back, her hair has been pulled up into a ponytail and she's wearing a velvet maroon, off the shoulder dress that hugs her body and a pair of black blocked heels. Austin-his blazer off and hanging up where her garment bag was-, Dez, and Trish are all waiting for her and she feels the adrenaline that comes from being anxious and excited kick in. She's really about to do this. She takes a deep breath and joins her best friends. 

Dez grabs Ally's hands, "I never thought you'd actually have the guts to sing in front of people, like, never in a million years did I think you would, like even in a _billion_ years-"

"Okay, Dez, I get it." 

"You're going to do great." 

"Thanks, Dez." She pulls him into a hug. Leave it to Dez to find a way to offend you in a compliment. 

Next is Trish. "Ally, I knew you at the peak of your stage fright and believe me, I'd never thought I'd see you you in front of stage, never not even in a million years, like not even in a bill-"

"Yes, billion, I know." 

Ally always knew there was a reason why Trish and Dez got along so well. 

Trish laughs and pulls Ally into a hug, "I love you so much, you're going to kill it." 

"I love you, too." 

Austin grabs Ally's hands, so much more gently than Dez. He opens his mouth to speak but stops when he hears the music from the gym cut off and hears the feedback of a microphone instead, causing them all to wince and cover their ears since they were so much closer to the speakers. 

Through the curtain, it's muffled, but they can hear the announcer come up and give out an apology. It's not a voice they recognize but regardless of who it was, they all knew that whoever was up there was there to announce Austin and Ally's performance.

They all look at each in a look of panic. Trish pushes Dez out of the backstage door, whispering a quick, "Good luck" before exiting the room. 

Austin and Ally look at each other, they know that they can't say much since they only have about a minute until the curtain opens. They walk up their microphone stands, still holding hands. Ally takes a deep breath, her heart feels like it's going to explode but in the best, possible way. 

"Now, the moment we've all been waiting for, before we announce this years Prom King and Queen, a performance from Marino High's very own, Austin Moon and Ally Dawson!" 

As the curtains open and they hears the screams and cheers of their peers, Ally takes a deep breath and looks at Austin who was already looking at her. He winks at her and lets their hands fall. Her hand feels stupidly empty. She resists the urge to bite her hair-a nervous habit of hers- by putting her hands on the microphone. Then she faces forward to the crowd of people all looking at them, still clapping and hollering. She's suddenly full of adrenaline, it's like every cheer injects another dose of it into her veins. She looks over at Austin and she knows he feels the same way, his eyes almost seem to glitter. 

Her eyes search for Elliot's while the guitar intro pours from the speakers surrounding them. She takes a deep breath and hums into the microphone. Her time to sing is coming up. The spotlight goes on her. She closes her eyes and softly sings her part. 

_Planets align,_

_Suddenly I'm alive_

When she opens her eyes again, she finds Elliot but his eyes aren't on hers, they're on Jada who's standing close to him. Ally feels her stomach roll as if she wants to throw up. She feels sick. Austin notices her go pale and quickly turns to her, avoiding what they were told which was to sing to the crowd. He catches her eyes and they lock instantly. Ally doesn't know how but it calms her and she forgets about Elliot as Austin sings to her. 

_Eyes full of stars,_

_Guide me to where you are_

The next part they sing together in a beautiful harmony, her voice high and light mixing together with his low, smooth voice. 

_Pinch me if I'm asleep_

_Cause it feels like it's a dream_

They sing the chorus to each other and Austin can't help but smile because his best friend, his partner, is in front of him, singing so beautifully, looking more than beautiful. She smiles back and as he sings the verse. She doesn't know what comes over her but she walks closer to Austin and begins to walk around him as she sings. 

_Light in the dark,_

_Holding me in your arms_

As she sings, he takes her hand and gently spins her, his eyes never leaving hers. For a split second, he feels as though there's no where else he'd rather be. He forgets there's a crowd but he doesn't care. Ally's eyes hold him captive. 

She sings to him. 

_We've got something special,_

_On another level,_

_Like it's just me and you in the room_

And it truly feels like that for the both of them, like they're the only people in the room, _the world_. Performing alone gives Austin such a thrill, singing with Ally makes him feel like he's on a high no drug could ever amount to and if there was, he'd easily ruin his drug-free reputation for it. 

Their eyes never leave each other as the song finishes. 

_Because something so brilliant,_

_Is meant for just two in a million._

There's a moment of silence and then a roar of applause and cheer comes from the crowd, ripping Austin and Ally from their own little world. Ally's eyes tear from Austin's to look at the people hollering and whistling and he already feels the high wearing off. 

Ally's head is spinning. _I did this_ , she thinks, _I really fucking did this._  Her heart feels like it's exploding and she feels so happy, she could do a cartwheel. 

Okay, maybe not a cartwheel but she feels like she can do anything, invincible, _unstoppable_.

She turns to Austin and she knows, she just _knows_ , he feels the same. Regardless if she had the ability to actually do anything she could, the first thing she'd want to do is hug Austin, so she does. In the the midst of the craziness and the screams and her shaking hands and legs that feel like jelly, Austin's arms around her ground her and she doesn't think she could ever stop smiling. 

Ironically enough, her next thought makes her stop smiling and immediately go into a state of worry. She pulls away from Austin suddenly, eyes wide and searching the crowd for any sign of Elliot and Jada and her heart drops. She tries not to think the worst but then she remembers how they looked at each other, how he said her name, and how tight her dress was and she just _feels_ it in her gut. Without a second thought, she runs off the stage and out of the gym. 

When Ally pulls away from Austin so suddenly, he's taken aback. All the blood was drained from her face which was a huge contrast to how flushed and red her cheeks were just seconds ago. He instantly feels uneasy, he's never seen her so scared. Suddenly, she runs off the stage and his mind spins.

He thinks maybe she was having an anxiety attack about performing and goes to run after her but then Liz, a girl he recognizes from the cheer-leading team, comes up the stage followed by a boy with many freckles holding a crown. His eyes widen. 

Liz speaks into microphone and speaks to Austin, "After that performance, I have no doubt why you received so many votes," She turns to the crowd, "Congratulations to our Prom King, Austin Moon!" 

Austin leans down in order for the much shorter freckled boy to put the crown on his head but all he wants to do is go after Ally. 

"And your Prom Queen is Guadalupe Rodriguez!" 

A girl from Austin's English class comes up with the hugest smile he's ever seen and accepts her crown. She hugs Austin and then snatches the microphone from Liz. 

"I'm so honored to be your Prom Queen. Let's give it up for Austin and Ally, right? Okay, anyways, I have a speech prepared." She takes out a handful of note cards out of the chest piece of her dress and breathes in, "First of all, I want to thank my Mom, who's always..." 

Austin notices all the attention is focused on Guadalupe and takes the opportunity to sneak out to find Ally. He runs out of the gym and finds her pacing the empty hallways. He runs up to her, "Ally? What's wrong? We did amazing, _you_ did amazing? Why are you out here?" 

She turns to him, her face looks panicked but when she speaks her voice is calm.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just looking for-" She stops when she sees the crown on top of his head.

"Holy shit, Austin! You won Prom King! Oh my god, congratulations. What are you doing here? You should be with your Queen! Are you cra-"  

She stops talking and her eyes widen when she hears a muffled moan. _Oh no_ , she thinks, _please please please no._

She walks slowly to the door where the moans are comings from, her heart beating painfully against her chest. Austin's right behind her, with no idea of what's going on, only that someone is moaning and he's never seen Ally so pale. It's a janitors closet. The door is slightly ajar so it makes no noise when she opens it up a little more. The sight in front of her knocks the breath out of her in the worst way possible: Elliot leaning against the farthest wall partially hidden by a shelf, eyes closed shut in pleasure and mouth open, moans escaping one after the other. Just below his waist, is Jada, only the back of her head visible, head bobbing up and down. 

In that moment, Ally feels her heart break into tiny pieces and the pain she's feeling in her chest feels as though it could suffocate her. She watches, as if from a distance, in slow motion as her body slides down the wall, Austin reaching for her and pulling her close. He's whispering into her ear but she can't hear anything he's saying. The only thing she can see is Elliot's face contorted into pure pleasure and the only thing she can hear is his echoing moans. 

Austin eye's widen in alarm and he can't believe what's going on, can't believe what he's just seen. He's so full of anger and shock, and Ally, fuck, Ally. He's so angry, he knows that if he weren't hugging Ally right now, he'd go in there and beat the hell out of Elliot. He can't even imagine what Ally is feeling, seeing her like this makes his heart break and he just wants to keep her close forever and protect from this nasty world full of trash like Elliot. He keeps stroking her hair as she cries into his chest, "Ally, I'm so so sorry, oh my god, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this shit. I'm going to beat his ass, I promise I am."

Ally's ears then focus on the muffled sound of the speakers from the gym calling out for Austin. She curses herself for bringing Austin into her problems when none of this was his fault. He deserved a good Prom, no matter how shitty hers was. Mustering the little strength she has, she takes deep breath and pulls away from Austin. 

"Austin, I'll be fine. Go, they're calling you." 

Austin's never seen her eyes so empty. He gently grabs her face and uses his thumb to wipe her tears away, "Ally, no. I don't want to leave you alone." 

She tries her best to put on a sincere smile, knowing Austin won't budge if he knows she feels like she won't ever be okay again. She takes his hand off of her face. "I promise, I'll be okay." 

"Ally, no-" 

Suddenly, someone busts open the doors of the gym. Austin turns to see Dez, a mix of confusion and impatience on the red head's face. 

"Austin, what the fuck are you doing here? Everyone is waiting for you! Did you forget that you have to dance with the Prom Queen? It's only a tradition that's been around for, like, ever." 

"No, I was-" he turns back towards Ally but she's gone. He curses under his breath.

Dez rolls his eyes, "Dude, forget I asked. C'mon." He grabs Austin by the arm and drags him back inside the gym. The last thing Austin sees is the white flower Ally had been wearing on her wrist lying on the floor. 


	5. don't tell me i don't care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ally gets her heart broken. Austin doesn't want her to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't updated this in a year......haha, get it? no?? ok. sorry. i'll save you from the excuses. i just suck at updating. hope you enjoy, this is a long one! <3

Although it felt as though the world had stopped when Austin had seen Ally leave, it didn’t. Even when he had witnessed Ally’s heart break right before his very eyes, there was still happiness and liveliness in the next room. Although it is the opposite of what he feels like doing, he still has to go on with the night and act like nothing happened. He has to force a smile to take what feels like a million photographs and dance with the Prom Queen to fulfill the high school tradition. Throughout all of it, every second is filled with worry for Ally.

He wants nothing more than to see her, to make sure she’s okay.

But he is lying. There is something that he wants to do more than see Ally. He wants to beat Elliot’s ass, make him pay for what he did to his best friend. It was the first thing he was going to do once he could finally be alone.

The opportunity came when the Prom Queen’s, -Alejandra, was it?- phone went off, an obnoxious techno song Austin has never heard until that moment, one that he wishes he didn’t have to.

She pulls the phone from her purse, glances sheepishly at the Caller ID, and smiles apologetically up at him. She’s a beautiful girl, really. Austin could see himself with her, if only his heart allowed. “It’s my Mom. Do you mind?”

He refrains from saying, “Fuck no, I don’t.” Despite how beautiful she is, she talks a lot and was keeping him from beating the fuck out of Elliot. Instead, he shakes his head. “Nope, not at all.”

She mouths him a “thank you” and quickly answers the phone, making her way outside where there’s more service.

He walks the opposite way, his chin raised, feeling his breathing become heavy as the anger begins to overtake every fiber of his being, all the way to his fingers which make his fists clench.

For a split second, he realizes how crazy he must look but he doesn’t care.

He makes his way into the same door that Ally had ran through just 15 minutes before, before everything had turned to shit.

He turns the corner to the hallway where the janitor’s closet is that contains Elliot and the girl. He turns the corner and stops abruptly, not expecting the sight in front of him; their principal, Ms.Clemmons, standing in front of the closed janitor’s door which had contained a girl sucking off a boy not too long ago. She was rubbing her temples, eyes shut tight.

His brows furrow in confusion. What the fuck?

He briefly thinks about sneaking back into the dance since she hadn’t noticed him yet but his curiosity beats him. He clears his throat awkwardly.

Ms.Clemmons jumps, a hand over her heart, and gasps when her eyes land on Austin. “Mr.Moon, what are you doing out here?!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he lies. “I just needed some air.”

She sighs and regains her composure. “It’s okay, but I’m going to need you to go back to the dance  _right now_.”

He innocently asks, “Why? What happened?”

Her face hardens, “It’s none of your concern, Mr.Moon. Now, _please_ , go back to the dan-”

“I know about the girl and boy.”

Her face falls, “You do?”

He nods, his lips in a tight line, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

He has always seen Ms.Clemmons as just a principal, nothing more, nothing less. Just as their strict, slightly uptight principal who always wore elegant suits and had a stare as cold as ice. In that moment, he sees something more. He sees her as a person. He sees the wrinkles in her face a little more clearly and the tense line of her shoulders that comes with dealing with teenagers everyday.

He feels a pang of sympathy for her as her hands come up to cover her face.

“Oh, no.”

Her reaction confuses Austin but then he realizes that it’s because she thinks that the whole school knows and he was just another ear that the story had landed itself in.

“I’m the only one knows.”

She spreads her fingers that are still resting on her face so that she can see him. The gesture is almost childlike. “You are?”

He nods again though it was a lie. He wasn’t the only one who knew. Ally did, too though he wishes she didn’t have to.

She sighs in relief and takes a deep breath. “Good. Now, let’s keep it that way. We can’t have anyone else knowing about this, you understand that, right, Mr.Moon?”

“Yes, yes. I do.” He did. He knew that if this got out, it would be the highlight of conversation until graduation. Normally, he wouldn’t give a fuck but he didn’t want Ally to be reminded of it every day.

“I’m glad you do. It makes my job much easier,” she says letting out a small, breathy laugh.

He responds back with a small, forced smile, unaware of what to say next until a thought occurs to him. He knew it was going to be an awkward question but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did-did you find them?”

She laughs humorlessly, “I didn’t. One of the janitors on duty found them. You can imagine how awkward it was for him to have to tell me that two of my students were engaged in such an...inappropriate manner.”

Austin lets out a shaky laugh, “I bet.”

There’s a beat of silence before Ms. Clemmon turns to him, face turning serious. “How did you know?” Suspicion is laced in her tone. “Were you aware of this beforehand?”

“What? No, no, no. After the performance, I needed some air. I was heading outside when I, well, you know, heard them. That was when I found them but they didn’t see me, obviously.”

His head spins momentarily. He really hates lying.

She nods in understanding and her arched eyebrow returns to its normal shape.

“So, what’s going to happen to them?”

Ms. Clemmons begins to pace back and forth, her heels clacking loudly against the marble floor, her arms crossed. “Well, it hasn’t been set yet but they’re obviously going to be suspended for a couple of days and in In School Suspension for a long time. Maybe even until graduation.”

He’s grateful to hear that they’ll be in In School Suspension. Kids that were in ISS were in a completely different building from the school and were rarely seen. He was glad that Ally wouldn’t have to see them.

“You should really head back to the dance, Mr.Moon. I’ll take care of this.”

He nods, “Yeah, sorry. Uh, I guess I’ll see you later, Ms.Clemmons.”

She smiles, the first genuine smile he sees since their interaction, “I suppose you will. Have fun, Mr.Moon. And remember, not another soul is to know about this.”

He nods again, “Thank you. I know.”

He begins to walk towards to the doors leading to the gym when she speaks up again. “Oh, and congratulations on Prom King and the performance. You and Ms.Dawson did a splendid job. I was very impressed. Tell her for me when you see her.”

His chest aches at the mention of her name. “I will. Thanks, again.”

Before she can say anything else, he steps back into a completely different atmosphere. For a second, in a room full of people having the time of their lives, he feels absolutely and desolately alone. He feels out of the loop somehow, like the world is turning along with everyone else but he didn’t get the memo. He knows it’s because Ally’s not with him.

He scans the room, looking for any sign of his friends but is interrupted by a hand coming down on his shoulder. He turns around to a group of guys he used to be on the basketball team with. The owner of the hand is the captain of the team, Xavier.

“Austin mother-fucking Moon!” Xavier has one of the biggest smiles he’s ever seen and his eyes are a little red and droopy. Austin takes a deep breath and catches the slightest scent of weed. The smell makes the back of his throat itch.

That was one of the reasons that he had quit the team. All of them were into doing drugs. How they were able to pass their drug tests was beyond him but it was a scene he didn’t want to be involved in. Sometimes, he misses playing but as he looks at the rest of them in their zombie-like state, he knows he made the right choice.

“Hey, man. You okay?”

Xavier laughs, “Never been better. What about you? You don’t look like someone who just won Prom King.”

The rest of the group laughs as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

“Nah, bro. Just tired.”

“Tired?!,” the shorter boy echoes with an incredulous tone. “It’s Prom Night! Jennifer is having an after-party at her house, did you forget? Everyone’s beginning to head over there. You wanna a ride? I think we have enough room.”

The idea of Xavier driving makes Austin feel uneasy. “I’m good. I’ll just meet you guys there.”

“Yes!” He exclaims loudly, “Alright, bro. See you there!”

But, he won’t. Because Austin’s not going. His mind is already set on going to Ally’s house. He needs to see her. She’s always been there for him and now, he wants to be there for her.

“See you, man. Be careful,” Austin says with sincerity.

When he’s alone again, he realizes that Xavier was right. People were starting to leave. He wonders if Dez and Trish have left, too.

As if on cue, Trish makes eye-contact with him from across the room. It’s the first time, he realizes, he has seen her since before the performance. It feels like it was a million years ago when it’s only been about 45 minutes.

She walks up to him with a look that has a mix of annoyance and relief. Her hands go up in exasperation, “I’ve been looking for you and Ally everywhere! Where have you been?”

He looks down at her, “We’ve been here. Guess you weren’t looking hard enough.”

She scoffs, “Whatever. Dez is waiting for us in the car. You know that it isn’t a party unless we’re there. We can’t keep the people waiting. Where’s Ally?”

His dark eyebrows furrow, “Party? What party?”

She looks at him as if he just said that he was going to dye his hair pink. She knocks on his head, “Uh, hello, is anyone there?” He swats her hands away. “The party that everyone has been talking about since, like, ever.”

“I’m still lost.”

“Jennifer’s!”

“Oh.” It was the same party Xavier had invited him to.

Trish just rolls her eyes in annoyance, “Wow. I didn’t think the stereotype about blondes being dumb pertained to you.”

Austin sticks his tongue out at her.

She shoves him playfully, eyes fond. “C’mon, you doof. Where’s Ally?”

His mind searches for an excuse that won’t worry her. He knows he can’t tell her the truth. It’s not his place to. Plus, he doesn’t want this to ruin her night, too.

“I’m actually about to take her home. Apparently her dad wanted her home early. She told me to tell you not to worry about it, that she wants you to have fun without her.”

One of Trish’s perfectly done eyebrows go up, “Is that so? Well she can tell me herself. Where is she?”

Austin’s eyes widen the slightest bit. He hopes she didn’t notice. “Uh, she’s in my-my car.”

“Take me to her. I at least want to say goodbye.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Austin panics. He opens his mouth in an attempt to force his mind to form a coherent thought but is saved by someone who Austin doesn’t recognize but who obviously knows Trish given that his hand was now on her shoulder.

The stranger speaks, “Dez told me to come get you. He said that if we’re not back in 3 minutes, he’ll leave.”

Trish groans, “But, Jace, I was just about to tell Ally bye.”

Jace. It’s a name that rings a bell in Austin’s mind. This must be the guy she’s been talking non-stop about that was from her Physics class.

Jace speaks again, “Isn’t she coming, too?”

“No, apparently she’s waiting in Austin’s car so he can take her home,” she says with a glossy pout.

“Well, aren’t you parked where everyone else is?,” he says to Austin. “You can just say bye and then we’ll go, right?”

Trish considers the thought, “Well. Okay. I guess that makes sense. Alright, well then let’s go.”

“Um, actually, no. I’m parked all the way on the other side of the school. Sorry,” he smiles sheepishly.

Trish rolls her eyes, “Of course you did.”

Suddenly, her phone rings. She looks at the caller I.D. and then at Jace. “It’s Dez.”

She sighs, “Okay, well tell her I said bye, I guess. Later, Austin.”

“Bye, guys.” He watches as she grabs Jace’s hand and leave together. Once they’re gone, he releases a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

He hates lying, he truly does, especially to his friends but he didn’t have another choice. If he was being honest with himself, he did remember all of the talk about Jennifer’s party before Prom, and he had wanted to go. He’s been to her parties before and they were always wild and fun. But he couldn’t imagine going without Ally. He’d rather be with her, especially in the state she’s in, he doesn’t want her to be alone and he knows she doesn’t want to be either, although she’d never admit it.

He sighs and walks outside, where people are beginning to get into their cars and leave, a majority of them to Jennifer’s. The sky is pitch-black with gray clouds scattered here and there, and a light dusting of stars. He makes his way to his car. He wasn’t lying when he said that he had parked on the other side of the school. Since he came late, all of the parking spots at the front of the school were taken so he had to park on a curb all the way in the back along with others who were also fashionably late.

He gets into his car and lowers the radio which automatically blasts music out of the speakers when he had turned it on because of the ride to the Prom when he had been blasting Ed Sheeran. He doesn’t want Ed Sheeran right now. He wants silence.

He realizes, for the first time that night, that he hasn’t had a second of silence since the day started; First, he had woken up with Ally, then when he got home, his Mom was lecturing him about not cleaning his room, then his argument with Cassidy, then Ms.Clemmons, then Trish, and everybody else. He hasn’t had time to think. And now that he does, it scares him a little bit because his mind wanders to Ally, like it always seems to do when he’s alone, and he begins to think how easy it would be to save this night. It’s Prom Night for fuck’s sake. It is supposed to be the most exciting and memorable day of the year. He could easily take a right at the intersection he’s at right now, instead of a left which would lead to Ally’s house, and turn up his radio to blast some fucking _Two Door Cinema_ and sing his little heart out, and go to Jennifer’s _huge_ ass house, and makeout with every _fucking_ girl (with their consent, of course), and celebrate winning Prom King with his friends and have a _blast._ He could easily do all of this. But he puts his blinker on to turn left because none of that shit mattered if he wasn’t with Ally and he’d rather be with her than do all of those things. And he knows, he _knows_ , that he wouldn’t do it for Dez, or for Trish, or for anybody else. It was always for Ally, just Ally. And he knows those feelings aren’t normal for a friend but anytime he has tried to think of Ally as anything more than a friend, it made him scared and so he just locked those thoughts in a cage and stuffed them to the back of his mind, thoughts for his subconscious to deal with. But he begins to think of the night before, the electricity in the air that had felt so suffocating but in the best possible way, and then how fucking amazing they were performing together. Out of all the performances he’s ever had, that one had been his favorite, no doubt. There was a certain adrenaline that he got when he performed but when he was performing with Ally, an unexplainable feeling had coursed through him like a wildfire. It was one of the best feelings he has ever felt and the minute Ally’s eyes left his, it fled his body and left him feeling empty.

He’s only gotten glimpses of that feeling when they touched hands playing the piano, when their eyes locked for just a moment too long, when he said something that made her laugh, but that night, it was full force. But, so what? So what if he’s had these feelings since he met Ally? So what if Cassidy or any other girlfriend he has never made him feel the way Ally did? It didn’t matter, especially tonight. Ally’s heart has just been broken by her first crush and he was supposed to be getting over Cassidy, although it seemed he pretty much was already. It didn’t matter, and it wouldn’t. Ally probably didn’t even feel the same and he’d always rather be best friends with her forever than to be with her the way he truly wants, have something happen where they break-up and never talk again. That would ruin him. And if she didn’t feel the same….that would ruin him, too. Their odds were better as friends, just as friends. He’s been able to fake it well enough, done a pretty good job of pretending those feelings didn’t exist by putting those feelings into someone else. God, he thinks as he slows down to a stop at a red light, I’m kind of fucked up. That’s not saying that he didn’t like Cassidy or any of his other girlfriends. They were all very nice, funny, and gorgeous...but they weren’t Ally. It was a realization that hit him when he had been dating a girl named Nikki. She was laughing and he was looking at her, and he remembers thinking Nikki’s laugh sounded like a hyena while Ally’s, ironically, sounded like music to his ears. That’s when he knew he had feelings for Ally. That was about 4 years ago, when they had been freshman.

Austin inwardly cringes at the mental image of him as a freshman.

The drive to Ally’s house feels like forever. In actuality, it was only about 15 minutes before he was driving in to her empty driveway. Lester’s car is gone from his usual spot.

That’s when it hits Austin. How did Ally get home? He knows that Dez drove her and Trish, and her car was still broken. He wonders if someone else she knew took her home. Knowing Ally, he knows that she wouldn’t call Lester when she’s been crying. She hates when people worry about her. It’s a trait that Austin has always found peculiar but in a way, enamoring. He hopes that she called a cab. He feels a pang of guilt. He should’ve been the one to take her home, not some stranger. Knowing she’s home alone, probably crying her eyes out makes his heart ache. But he’s here now, and that’s all that matters.

He goes up to the door and knocks twice. He counts to 60 in his head. No answer.

He expected that. Ally’s room is upstairs. He’s been up there multiple times and has lost count on all of the times that Lester has ended up having to throw rocks at Ally’s window because he forgot his keys (like he always did) to get Ally’s attention so she’d open the front door. He’d always claim that he had been knocking at the door for 30 minutes. Plus, their doorbell was broken, another maintenance job that Lester has promised to get to in the hopes of not having to call and pay someone to do it. It’s been broken for 2 years. Austin’s theory is that the door is made of a material that doesn’t allow sound to travel through. Regardless, he was going to be outside for hours if he kept knocking.

 _Looks like I’m going to have to pull a ‘Lester’_ , Austin thinks.

He walks to the side of the house, where Ally’s window is. He doesn’t want to throw rocks. That would scare her. Austin mentally adds ‘able to climb the side of houses’ to the long list of why being Spider-Man would make his life so much better. Austin ponders the idea for a bit. He doesn’t exactly have to be Spider-Man to climb up to her window.

There’s a huge tree that’s right next to her window. It’s an oak tree that’s naked because of the change in seasons that has been in that very spot even before Lester had bought the house 15 years ago. He’s never thought of climbing it. Until now. Before he can overthink it and scare himself into not doing it, he starts climbing up, grateful for the height advantage. He’s able to grab on to the first branch and pull himself up. He looks down and regrets it. He’s at least 10 feet off the ground. Heights have never been something he enjoyed. He gulps. There are another 2 branches he has to get on before being at Ally’s window. He climbs them easily but slowly, afraid of the result if he were to fall.

He finally gets to her window. Her blinds are open. He doesn’t see her at first but she’s there, all right. She’s laying down on her bed facing the ceiling. That’s all he can see from where he’s at. His heart seems to come back alive just at the sight of her.

He waves to get her attention, his other hand gripping the branch he’s on tightly. She doesn’t notice. He stretches his hand out as far as he can to tap on the window. She suddenly sits up right, startled and turns her head towards the window. Her eyes, terrified, are flushed with relief then with confusion.

She walks to the window and opens it. Now that she’s closer, he can see her eyes, puffy and swollen from crying, her pale face stained with dry tears.

“Austin? What are you-what are you doing here?”

She grabs his hand to help him in, sending shocks throughout Austin’s body against his will.

He stands up straight once he’s finally inside, Ally staring at him in bewilderment and admiration, waiting on his answer.

“I wanted to see you.”

She looks down, almost embarrassed. “Why, Austin? It’s Prom Night. Please don’t let me ruin it for you, please.” Her voice is small, broken.

Austin’s heart breaks. He hates that she feels like this. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Her hair, which had been curled, was now wavy and the make-up she had on was wiped off. The dress she had on was replaced with a big T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. But she still looks like the most beautiful person Austin has ever seen.

She looks back up, but doesn’t meet Austin’s eyes. She wraps her arms around her chest self-consciously. “I am okay.”

Austin searches her face, his eyes rake over every inch of her face. His voice comes out almost as a whisper when he asks, “Are you?”

She looks up at him then, and he can see the front she had on crash and tumble in a matter of seconds. Her face falls and her bottom lip trembles. Her voice breaks when she responds with “No.”

Austin quickly envelops her in a hug, pressing her close to his chest where she begins to sob. Her holds her, one hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair, and the other on her back, rubbing small, little circles.

She tries to speak in between sobs, her chest heaving, “I-I-I feel so-” but Austin stops her. “Shhh, Alls. It’s okay. Just focus on your breathing. You can tell me when you're ready to talk. Just please breathe.”

For some reason, this makes her cry even harder. Austin practically carries them both to her bed. Once they’re seated, Ally rests her head in the crook of Austin’s neck where she continues to cry while he runs his hand gently over her back. After about five minutes, her crying seems to ease and her breathing has calmed a little, her chest is still heaving but not as much. She takes deep breaths and counts backwards down from 50. She can’t lie. Just Austin’s presence made her feel so much better. Having him so close, feeling his warmth captivate her, has dramatically changed her well-being. _I don’t deserve him,_ Ally thinks, just as she has thought so many other times before.

“Hey, Austin?” she croaks out, picking at one of the buttons on his blazer, throat raw with how much she’s cried..

“Hmmm?” he hums, playing with a strand of her hair.

“I don’t deserve you.”

What he wants to say is: _I’d cross the fucking ocean if you needed me to, Alls._ Instead he doesn’t respond. He just chuckles lightly.

Ally smiles to herself softly, smiling for the first time in what feels like one thousand years though it has only been about two hours.

He looks down at her head, “You feeling better, Alls?”

She nods, still playing with Austin’s blazer.

“You want to talk about it?”

She shifts suddenly, sitting straight but still close to where their thighs are touching. Her eyes are even more puffy and her lips are red and swollen. She still looks impossibly beautiful and Austin thinks to himself, _I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry he did this to you. You think that you don’t deserve me but I think you don’t deserve this, any of this._

“Yeah, I’ll talk.”

Austin nods and she licks her lips. “I-I- I don’t even know how to explain it,” she says, eyes focused on the beige wall in front of her, decorated with photographs, paintings, notes, and other items she loves. “It’s not even that I’m, like, hurt about El-him, him with another girl. I’m just so fucking _embarrassed,_ ” she continues, the last sentence coming out in exasperation.

He nods in understanding although he still feels a little confused.

“Embarrassed,” she repeats, nodding to herself, “that’s the word. I feel so embarrassed. And stupid. I had this illusion of him from camp that I kept trying to force myself to think he still was but he isn’t. He changed. The boy from camp that I had fallen so hard for didn’t break my heart. The one now did. I forced myself to like him so much and I don’t even know why. Now, I just feel kind of empty. And sad. And angry at myself and him. But more sad,” she finishes, eyes heavy with melancholy. She laughs humorlessly, “That probably didn’t make sense but, yeah.” She looks at him and tilts her head.

Austin just looks at her. “It does. I do understand. He was your first love or whatever you want to call him. You had these expectations of him and it fell through. Because he’s an ass. And the dumbest mother fucker I’ve ever had the displeasure of having to meet.”

Her eyes are still trained on the wall, as if in her own little world. She just smiles sadly at Austin’s words. Austin grabs her hands, making her attention focus on him again. “Ally. I’m sorry. I really am. I wish I could say something that could make everything better again but I’m not good with words, you know that. I just-please, please don’t be angry with yourself. Please. You have no reason to. This is all his fault. You did nothing wrong, you understand that, right? You did nothing wrong. He is the dumbest, worst person on the Earth. He’s trash. T-R-A-S-H, trash. Anyone who cheats is trash. Especially on you, Ally.”

Her eyes seem to ask the question for her.

“Especially on you,” he continues, eyes never leaving hers, “because you are the most amazing person I’ve ever and will ever meet, the most amazing anyone will ever meet. You’re the smartest person, you’re so fucking intelligent and nice, jesus, so nice. You have the biggest heart and you’re so giving and friendly and you have one of the most interesting personalities I’ve ever had the honor of getting to know. So, please. Please. Don’t think any of this is your fault. Because it’s not.” His heart begins to beat faster. He could go on forever.

Ally just stares at him for a second, feeling her head spin for a moment before dropping her head, feeling a blush flow throughout all of her body. She wishes she could say something, anything, but she can’t. She just drops her head and focuses on the floor.

Austin swallows, his mouth has went dry, and follows her gaze. She’s staring at a crumpled piece of paper. That’s when he realizes that it’s not alone, and there’s about 30 other crumpled papers all over the floor. He hadn’t noticed them earlier.

He clears his throat. He really needs some water. “What are those?”

“They’re, uh,” she chuckles softly before continuing, “they’re all failed attempts of me trying to write a song. I thought to myself, ‘Might as well make good use of these emotions and put them into a song.’”

Austin smiles fondly. He watches as Ally seems to go over something in her mind, like she’s just realized the secret to taking over the world. Her eyes grow just the slightest bit wider and there’s a certain spark in her eye that appears that he has never seen before. It’s like watching the weather change from outside your bedroom window from one natural disaster to a drastically different one, just in a matter of seconds.

“But none of them came out right. Absolutely none of them. And in the midst of my sadness, I kept thinking to myself, ‘I get cheated on and now, I can’t even write one goddamn song? What the fuck is wrong with me?’” Austin opens his mouth to say something, to protest, but then, Ally turns to him and her eyes are filled with a look so fierce and so filled with passion that he stops. He feels the breath get knocked out of his chest the minute their eyes lock. His heart is beating fast, oh so fast. Ally’s is right there along with his.

“It was because of you. You were the reason. I always write best when you’re with me. I needed you. Like how you came because you knew I needed you. You came when you could’ve gone out and been with whoever you wanted and you came here.” The look in her eyes is so intense but he couldn’t look away, even if he wanted to. He wants to say something but he can’t find any words. But there’s no need to because Ally keeps talking. She doesn’t know what she’s doing but she’s lying. She knows, she just can’t seem to stop. It feels wrong yet so right. She feels as though she has never meant anything so truly, so deeply in her life. “I was being serious when I said I don’t deserve you. I’ve never meant something so deeply. You’re the only person who has ever truly been there for me and I..I love you, Austin.”

The words hang in the air, thrown into their mingled breaths. Ally had been leaning closer and closer throughout her speech and she hadn’t even realized. It wasn’t a conscious decision. But she realizes she’s never wanted anything more in her life as Austin looks at her lips. Austin feels desire course through his body and he feels his heart is about to explode out of his chest. She’s so close. He’s imagined kissing her so many times but he never pictured it would feel like this, feel like a drug being injected into every part of his body, spreading a feeling of an unexplainable high that he has decided, in that moment, is the best feeling he thinks he’ll ever experience.

He gently puts a hand on her cheek and he watches, almost in slow motion, as her eyes close before their lips are seconds away from touching for the first time. Watches as her eyelashes flutter against the top of her cheekbones that are still stained with dry tears. Tears.

Cold reality washes over Austin like a tsunami. His eyes widen and he can almost hear his heart drop to the floor with a heavy thud and crack into a million pieces, scattered along the floor along with the pieces of paper filled with Ally’s emotions of heartbreak and sadness from a boy she had just been with not even 5 hours ago. _Ally’s heart has just been broken,_ Austin thinks to himself in horror, _she doesn’t know what she’s saying. She’s just using me. I’m just a rebound to her._

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Austin hastily stands up, backing away from Ally like she’s the world’s most contagious disease.

Ally, startled, opens her eyes again. Her whole body stiffens as if in shock, like she’s just realized what was going to happen. She feels like she’s just been woken up out of a dream.

Austin looks and feel like he’s about to cry, but he looks more angry and hurt, disappointed. The last thing he says before he storms out of her room is, “I get that you’re going through something right now but you can’t play with people’s fucking feelings like that. You can’t just use people like fucking dolls.”

Ally just continues to stare at the door, eyes wide, still in shock. His voice was so full of hatred and venom, his eyes seemed almost black.

She gasps suddenly and puts a hand over her lips, realizing in entirety just how badly she’s fucked up. She lays face-down on her bed, the bed where she almost had her first kiss with Austin, and screams into her pillow.


	6. i don't wanna hear that you are suffering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ally just wants Austin. Austin doesn't want anything to do with Ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhh so like. I know sorry doesn't cut it but I still am. This is super long because I just don't know where to stop but this is my first A&A fic that I've finished so that's really exciting. I hope you enjoy reading it and thank you all. I hope you like it. Thank you for following along with me on this story, it was fun :) 
> 
> oh, and. I don't own any of the characters or the songs I've included. All rights go to the original creators. This is just a fictional story that was created from my very weird imagination. Thankssss.

The realization of what had happened hit her like a brick as soon as Austin slammed the door shut behind him. He left her open-mouthed and eyes wide as if she had just woke up from a nightmare. She couldn’t even move even though something was telling her to get up and run after him, but she simply couldn’t. She couldn’t move. She  _ didn’t _ move. She didn’t move from her bed at all. She just lay down and as everything from that night began to dawn on her, and after she screamed into her pillow, she began to cry. She cried for what felt like 3 hours. Her eyes were tired and burned from how much crying she had done, but her mind wouldn’t let her slip into, what would probably be, a deep, peaceful sleep as it always was when she had spent the night crying. Her body was tired but there were a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, like thousands of aggravated and terrified flies caught in a net and they all had one thing in common. Each and every one lead back to Austin. 

One of the most persistent ones was the “almost” kiss. She hadn’t realized how much she had wanted to kiss him until that night. It was the most overwhelming sensation and she’d give anything -especially right now- to feel that again. She’d give anything to feel anything but sadness. She just wants Austin.

“It would have been my first kiss,” she whispers to herself, unconsciously running her fingers over her lips, trying to remember the feeling of his breath against her mouth again.

Realizing what she is doing, she hastily puts her hand back down, embarrassed.  Because it’s wrong, she knows it’s wrong. She shouldn’t have tried to kiss him. She knows that he thinks he was just going to be some kind of rebound to her but that was far from the truth. Yes, it had been bad timing--really, _really_ bad timing--but she meant it. She loved Austin. And she had loved Austin before, as a friend, that was obvious, but as a lover, she hadn’t realized until that night. She wonders if she’s loved him this whole time. Then she remembers the feeling of singing with Austin; how it had felt when his eyes never left hers, how she wished the whole time that he would never stop, how she couldn’t stop thinking he looks like an angel, that his eyes have never looked so beautiful, and _yes_ , she thinks, _perhaps I have._

_ I should get up and shower or something _ , she thinks randomly, as an afterthought, but instead of complying, she readjusts so she’s laying on her side. An idea pops into her head when she realizes that she doesn’t think she can go on like this for much longer without going a little insane. She reaches for her phone that’s been left untouched since last night. Trish would know what to do. It’s 8:57 A.M. so she probably isn’t awake yet but she texts her anyways.

**“Hey, if you’re not busy today, can you come over?? Need to talk.”**

Ally gnaws on the fingernail of her pointer finger and sets her phone aside. She knows not to expect Trish’s text for another two hours or so. Trish has never been a morning person, especially when she’s assumingly hung-over from Jessica’s party last night. Ally has never been to one of her parties, but she’s heard the stories of all of the booze she usually has. 

Ally is about to lay back down on her bed but much to her surprise, Trish texts back a minute later.  **“Yeah, let me take a shower and I’ll be over there. I’m a little hungover so I apologize in advance."**

**“It’s okay. I’m going to shower, too. See you soon <33”**

And this time, she does comply.

 

*** 

 

She thought that the shower would help clear her head which it usually did when she was feeling upset. 

Instead, it was if the water was an invitation for her mind to explore possibly ridiculous and dramatic scenarios.  _ What if Austin never talks to me again? What if I ruined our friendship? What if he drops out of school to avoid seeing me and moves to another school in New York where he’ll find a girl with blonde hair and get married and have 5 children? _ Okay, yeah. She was being dramatic but  _ still. _

She shakes her head in an attempt to get rid of these thoughts which makes water droplets from her freshly washed and cucumber smelling hair spray everywhere. She quickly changes into a pair of comfy sweats and a t-shirt. She checks her phone and sees that it has been 30 minutes since she texted Trish. Knowing her best friend and her long shower habits, she knows better than to not expect her to take another 30 minutes so she waits. She contemplates texting Austin but every time her finger hovers over his contact name, she quickly pulls it away as if doing so electrocutes her. So, she lays on her bed and closes her eyes, and plays “Privilege” by The Weeknd and tries to replay the night before in her head. Her heart feels as if its going to burst each time the image of Austin being so close pops up into her head. He’s always had a problem with personal space, which she had never minded, but that time it had been different. And,  _ fuck _ , she’d give anything to feel that again, to have him close. Just the possibility that she would never be close to him, as a friend or a lover, makes her heart drop to her stomach and she can’t. She just can’t. She squeezes her eyes tighter to stop herself from crying. She’s feeling so many things at once and it’s so overwhelming. She wishes Trish would hurry up.

As if on cue, there’s a knock on her bedroom. That’s one thing that Ally has always appreciated about Trish. She always respected Ally’s privacy, always knocked. It was a quality that Ally was very fond of. She sits up and wipes away the tears that had managed to escaped. She clears her throat. “Come in.”

Her door opens and in comes Trish, her wet hair wrapped into a bun that’s placed messily on top of her head. There’s a few curly strands that she has apparently forgotten and they frame her face in such a pretty  way that, in the midst of her sadness, Ally can’t help but admire how beautiful her best friend is.

There’s a Starbucks drink in her hand and her car keys in her other hand. She looks tired and half-asleep. She throws her car-keys on Ally’s countertop and flops down on the bed next to Ally. “Fuck, remind me to never drink again.”

Ally chuckles and follows it with some sniffles. Trish takes a sip of her drink then looks over at Ally. “Anyways, what did you want to- “ she stops when she looks at Ally for the first time since walking in her room, the tired feeling she had vanishing as she sees how red her face is, how swollen her eyelids are, just how  _ sad _ she looks. She immediately sits up right. “Holy shit, Ally. What happened? Are you okay?”

Trish’s face was now full of concern, her eyes watching Ally with worry.

Ally doesn’t look at Trish, though. She just stares at her hands and contemplates what to say, where to begin. _ What happened? I wish I knew as well. Do I feel okay? I don’t really know. _

She just sighs for what seems a lifetime and then chuckles again, this time without any humor. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I-uh,” she clears her throat and then looks over at Trish. With a sad smile, she continues. “I almost had my first kiss last night.”

Trish’s dark brows seem to almost meet in the middle with how much she’s frowning of confusion. Her mouth opens then closes then opens. “I don’t understand. You don’t seem too happy about it. Why ‘almost?’ Did Elliot-?”

Ally interrupts her immediately. “Not. Elliot.,” she says with more acid than intended. 

Whereas Trish was expecting clarification, she ends up feeling even more confused, which she didn’t think was possible at this point. There was a million questions that she wanted to ask but she ended up asking the most obvious one. “Then…..who?”

Ally sighs then goes on to tell her everything: Starting from the beginning of Prom, including walking in on Elliot and his...friend, and then, Austin.  

Watching Trish’s facial expressions go from confusion, to anger, to bewilderment while she listened to the story would’ve been almost comical to Ally if it hadn’t been so hard for her to say it. Saying it out loud meant it was real. And that was too much. Just too much. But she got through it.

In the end, Trish was left speechless. For the first time in her life, Trish De La Rosa had no idea what the fuck to say.

Ally understood that it was a lot to take in and she needed to let Trish collect her thoughts but after about a minute of silence, it feels like a second more and it would suffocate her.

“Trish, please say something. Anything,” she says desperately, searching Trish’s face for any reaction.  

Finally, Trish opens her mouth. “So….you….you’re like….in..love with...Austin?”

“Yes. Yeah. More than anything,” Ally responds, breathless, in a rush. 

“Woah.” 

“Yeah.” 

There was a moment of silence again then Trish broke it.  “I don’t mean to-” she pauses. “I’m trying to find a way to say this in the nicest way but I don’t think there is one.”

Ally just nods in understanding, waiting for Trish to continue. “Okay, so. Let me put it in a way where you can understand. Sorry to be blunt, but you just got cheated on, right? Then Austin comes over, and suddenly, you express your love for him and want to kiss him not even a day after your first crush has broken your heart. Austin is in love with you, for crying out loud! You’re treating him like a rebound. I wouldn’t want to kiss you either.”

Ally is taken back. She understood what Trish said after but her mind seemed to only stick to _ “the kid is in love with you.”  _

“Austin’s in love with me?,” Ally asked hesitantly, almost in a whisper.

Trish nodded. “Yes, Ally. Literally everyone knows. It was obvious to everyone but you.”

Ally is afraid she might faint. Her mind was spinning like crazy. She understood that, at the least, Austin  _ had  _ wanted to kiss her back and was very close to doing so but she thought because he was in the moment. She had no idea, not the slightest, that he was in love with her.  “How do you- he-he told you-Everyone?”

“No, he didn’t need to. Me and Dez knew it this whole time. He might not have known it himself but he did love you. We could tell just in the way he looked at you, how he said your name.” 

Ally felt her heart was leaping out of her chest and into a cloud of euphoria. It felt like she was dreaming. Someone loved her. And more importantly, it was Austin that loved her.

“It was obvious with you too but Dez and I had made a bet that Austin would be the first to spill.”

Ally whipped her head towards Trish. “What?”

“You’re not as subtle as you think, Ally,” Trish says, looking at her best friend with a warmth only the eyes of a best friend could give.   

Ally blushes and bites back a smile. Her heart feels like it could explode with how full it feels.

“Dez thought you’d be the first one to admit it but then you got with Elliot and you seemed to like him so much we thought it was over but I guess not. I owe Dez Chipotle now. Damn.”

Ally snorted in wry laughter, “Well I wish someone would have told me before so I wouldn’t have to remember my Prom night like this.”

Trish scooted closer and put a compassionate arm around Ally’s shoulder. “Everything happens for a reason, Ally. Why this happened, though, I have no idea. But I’m really sorry you had to go through that. Elliot is trash. I hate that piece of shit. We should egg his house.”

“I don’t even care about Elliot, if I’m being honest. Just the fact that he humiliated me and embarrassed me on what was supposed to be one of the best nights of my life kind of sucks but having Austin so close, erased everything bad that had ever happened to me for just a second. I love him, Trish, I do. He’s not a rebound to me. The fact that he thinks that breaks my heart because it’s not true. It was just-” 

“Really, really bad timing?” Trish suggested, smiling sheepishly.

Ally snorted. “That’s an understatement but yes. What do I do?”

“With Austin, I think you should just give him some time. In the meantime, you still have those two-hundred dollars. We can buy a lot of eggs and egg Elliot’s house if you want to.”

Ally laughed out loud for the first time in what seemed like forever. “Don’t tempt me, Trish. I really want to- wait. 200 dollars? Where did that come from?”

Trish scoffed, “Ally, are you serious? Remember? Does the performance that you and Austin gave last night ring a bell?”

Fuck. She had forgotten about the performance. She had forgotten that they had done it for money, too. Suddenly, a metaphorical light bulb goes off over Ally’s head. “I think I have a better idea of what to do with the 200 that’s, you know,  _ legal, _ ” she pauses to give Trish a pointed look which causes the curly-haired girl to put her hands up in surrender. Ally continues, “And, it will fix Austin and I. I hope. I’m going to need your help. And Dez’s. And a lot of decorations. You want to kill two birds with one stone and pick up Dez then head go to the store?”

Trish just shrugs. “I have no idea where you’re going with this but you seem to know what you’re doing so yes, I’m down.”

“Perfect. Text Dez and let him know we’ll pick him up in like 15 minutes,” Ally instructs as she slips on her vans.

Trish pulls out her phone to do as Ally says but she can’t hide her curiosity. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

“Austin ruined his prom night because of me and now I’m going to make it up to him,” Ally replies, matter-of-factly.

Trish raises one eyebrow. “So you’re going to fuck him?”

Ally chokes on her own spit. “Trish! No! I’m going to make a prom. Just for us.”

“I feel like I’m in a John Green story. But, I can’t lie, that’s perfect. You are a genius.”

“That’s if we find a way to get him to go. He probably hates my guts but Dez will probably know what to do. Let’s go.” 

 

*** 

 

30 minutes later, Dez is in the backseat of Trish’s car happily chomping on the Chipotle burrito that Trish had to pay for while Ally is making a list of what she needs for Austin’s “prom” on her phone. 

“Okay,” Ally says as she finishes the last bullet point, “I think that’s enough. What do you suggest we do to get Austin to my house?”

“Why don’t you just call him?” Dez says through a mouthful of burrito which makes it come out a bit muffled.

Trish glares at him. “Dez.”

Dez puts his hands up in surrender, “Sorry, sorry.” He puts his hands down. “I could say that you fell down the stairs or something.”

“Dez, be serious,” Ally says, rolling her eyes, as she names the note “Austin <3 <3 <3.”

“No, actually. He has a point,” Trish interjects,causing Ally to look up from her phone with confusion because she can’t help but think,  _ did Trish just agree with Dez?   _

“I know it sounds crazy, Ally, but hear me out,” Trish continues. “It  _ would _ get him over there. Remember when y’all got into a fight about something stupid. Your dad was in New York for a music convention and I think me and Dez were working on a play that night, weren’t we, Dez?”

“Yup, Romeo and Juliet.”  

“Ew, I’m still mad that Aubrey was cast as Juliet. That girl  _ cannot _ act.”

“Right? She didn’t have enough passion for the role. Plus, a ginger Juliet? Shakespeare would be so disappointed. They could have at least cast  _ me _ -”

“Guys!” Ally yells to get their attention back.

“Sorry,” they both say, embarrassed.

“Theatre nerds,” Ally mumbles under her breath. “Anyways, continue.”

“Oh, right. Okay, where was I?” 

“Me and Austin had gotten into a fight?”

“Yeah, and y’all had already gone, like, 3 days without talking to each other. Then you fell down the stairs and broke your thigh-”

“Fractured my femur, actually,” Ally interrupts, practicing her Anatomy vocabulary since she has a quiz on Monday, which earns a glare from Trish. “Sorry, go on.”

Trish clears her throat, “Anyways, the point here is you hurt something. You called Dez and I but we were in the middle of the play so we texted Austin and he ran over there and took you to the hospital even when he was mad at you, right?”

Ally lets out a long sigh, “Yeah,” she whispers with a pout.

“See? So I’ll just text him that you fell again,” Dez says with a big glop of avocado on his chin that was kind of making it hard for Ally to take him serious.

“Okay, I guess we’re going to go with that,” Ally says, running her hands through her hair in frustration, “I just really hope this works.” 

“Trust me,” Trish says, raising the volume of the radio up, “it will.”

 

*** 

 

“Dez, no! The vase should have 3 pink roses and 3 red roses, not 2 reds and 4 pinks!” Ally shouts frustratingly two hours later. 

They are all in Ally’s backyard setting up for Ally’s version of “Prom.” Ally has changed into a yellow dress that stops just above her knees. She debated using the prom dress she had bought for their actual prom but the thought of wearing it outside, since she was using her backyard as Austin’s prom, wasn’t very appealing. Neither was yellow, in her opinion, but it was Austin’s favorite color so it has to count for something.

Trish grabs Ally’s hands. “Ally, girl. Calm down. Are the flower arrangements really that important?”

Ally looks down and pouts, “No. I just really want this to be perfect.”

“It will. I mean, look at this place, Ally. It looks like something out a fairytale!” Trish gestures around Ally’s backyard.

And yeah, Ally thinks. Trish has a point. They had wrapped fairy lights around each trunk of the few palm trees there were and hung a couple in between some as well. She had thrown flower petals all along the grass on the floor, concentrating mostly around the one table that stood in the middle that Dez was currently trying to decorate. Light music was playing from speakers plugged into Ally’s laptop that was placed on top of the grill that Lester very rarely used. 

Grumpily, Dez walks over to them. “There, Ally. I fixed it so it’s 3 pink roses and 3 red roses. Y’ happy now?”

Ally places a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Dez. I really appreciate your help.” She turns to Trish, “You, too, Trish. I owe you both. Big time,” she continues and finishes with a smile.

Dez softens up and smiles back at her. “Anything for you. If it was Trish, that’d be another story.”

Trish glares up at him and sighs exasperatedly, “You always have to find a way to annoy me, don’t you?”

Dez girns. “Yup. What would this friendship be if I didn’t?,” he says and throws an arm around her shoulders.  

She retaliates with: “We’re not friends,” but doesn’t try to shove his arm off like she usually would. Ally almost finds it cute.

“Okay, so. What now?” Trish says, changing the subject.

Ally shrugs. “Now, we wait. Dez texted him before starting on the vase that I was trying to get a cat out of a tree and fell.”

Trish scoffs but it comes out a bit breath-y because she laughs as she does so. “That’s what you came up with? That’s the lamest lie I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, it worked because he responded with ‘o-m-f-g.’”

“Dez! You didn’t say he responded! I told you to tell me if he responded,” Ally shrieks, panicked.

Dez just smiles sheepishly, “Oops.”

“Ugh, Dez! He’s probably already really close! You both need to go! Shoo-shoo!” she says, freaking out, pushing them through the backdoor of her house. Since he thinks that she’s hurt, laying down in her backyard somewhere, Ally knows he’ll probably just jump their fence instead of bothering to knock on the front door. Well, at least she hopes so because if he goes through the front door and sees Trish and Dez it’d ruin everything. 

Suddenly, her ears pinpoint on the sound of slapping footsteps from the other side of the fence that separates her backyard from the front of her house. Her eyes widen and she contemplates dropping to the floor and pretending to actually be injured but freaks out and hides. She hadn’t really thought about what would happen when the moment finally came but she is filled with an adrenaline and a feeling of love that is so overwhelming, she feels as though she may burst when she hears the sound of the fence groaning as he jumps over it, landing with a soft thud on the grass. She watches as his eyes wander restlessly over every part of her backyard as he yells for her. “Ally? Al-” he stops when he notices all of the decorations. She hears him mutter, “What the fuck?” under his breath.

_ It’s now or never _ , she thinks.

She takes a deep breath and steps out from behind the palm tree she was hiding behind. She clears her throat to get his attention. 

His head whips towards the sound and when his eyes finally land on hers, when he realizes that she looks perfectly fine and uninjured, he lets out a sigh of relief and doubles over to catch his breath, hands on his knees.

“Austin, I-”

He impatiently puts a finger up, still doubled over, in a gesture that says:  _ Give me a fucking second. _

Once he’s gotten enough air in his lungs, he stands back up. His face looks a healthy mix of anger and confusion. His hair is matted to his forehead and his cheeks are still red but Ally can’t help but appreciate how beautiful he is. The possibility of him leaving crosses her mind. There was an actual chance he could just leave and continue to be mad at her. He had every right. After all, they live in a free country but she’s not sure what she would do if he did. She doesn’t know if her heart will be able to take it.

“What the hell, Ally? What the  _ actual _ fuck? I thought you were-“

She puts a finger on his lips. It’s a gesture she’s seen done in plenty of movies and it has always seemed to work. “Shhh. Just listen.”

He gently shoves her finger from his mouth and laughs but with no humor. “Who do you think I am, Ally? Huh? What’s going on? I want to know why the fuck I just ran for over 10 minutes from my house because I thought you were, like, fucking dying-”

“Austin,” she looks up at him, giving him the eyes she knows he has a soft spot for. “Please. Just sit down and listen,” she says, pulling out one of the chairs from the table and angling it so it’s facing her.  

He rolls his eyes and sits down. “Can I at least get some water?”

Ally ignores him and grabs the guitar that Trish had left leaning against the table. She puts her fingers on the guitar strings the way that Austin had taught her so many years ago and begins to strum. She goes on to sing a soft acoustic version of Two in a Million.

Ally is washed in relief as she watches Austin’s face soften as she starts to sing. The cold cloud in his eyes disappears and she swears,  _ she swears _ , his eyes are twinkling. With the way he is looking at her, Ally wishes he would never stop. 

What she doesn’t know is that the twinkle in his eye is actually tears that Austin is trying hard (really hard) not to let loose. He’s a sucker for a romantic, cheesy gesture. And a sucker for Ally. Her singing that song reminded him of the writing process, particularly of the lyric he had contributed, one that he made with her in his mind. _ Planets align, suddenly I’m alive.  _ He remembers coming up with that lyric because of the first time he had locked eyes with Ally in Sonic Boom, remembers feeling like something had finally clicked into place and all of the planets were in agreement that that moment was supposed to happen, and it just felt so right. Nothing had been the same after that.

Once she has finished, nearly on the verge of tears herself, she sets the guitar down and waits, unaware of what to say next, only that that if Austin doesn’t say anything, she might go mad. Suddenly, Austin stands up, so abruptly that he almost knocks over his chair. Ally walks over to him, heart thumping loudly in her chest. They stare at each other for a second before Ally opens her mouth, voice breaking, she tells him: “Austin. I’m so sorry-”

Austin encompasses her face gently with his hands, making her quiet. He kisses her forehead softly and Ally is overwhelmed with him being so close, smelling his cologne masked with a faint scent of sweat, and she closes her eyes as his lips leave her but she wants them back. When he pulls back, Ally looks up at him, glancing briefly at his lips before looking back in his eyes, not being able to help it. _ I’m yours _ , she thinks, _ and I may be crazy and I may be dramatic but I’m so in love with you, I feel as though I’ll be yours for a hundred lifetimes. _ As though he read her mind, he leans in and they kiss for the first time.

The first kiss is soft and short but perfect, nonetheless. They separate for a second before Ally opens her mouth just the slightest as an invitation that Austin happily (and eagerly) agrees to. Ally separates again but only a little bit so that their mouths were still on each others. Eyes still closed she asks, “Will you go to Prom with me?” 

He laughs against her lips, “Hate to break it to you, Alls, but our Prom was yesterday.”

“What do you think this is then?”

He leans back farther and his eyes widen. “Ally, you didn’t. I thought it was just some party that you didn’t invite me to.”

She smiles and kisses the corner of his mouth. “I did. For you. All for you.” 

He looks around in astonishment and his eyes land on her last. He looks at her with a look of fondness so great, it’s basically radiating off of him in waves. “You really outdid yourself, Alls.”

“With the help of  Dez and Trish, of course.”

He grabs her hand. “I think you owe me a slow dance, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I don’t think you are,” she says and he leads them both closer to the music, flower petals making no noise as they step on them.

She rests her arms on his shoulders, close to his neck, and he places his arms on her lower back. They sway back and forth to Taylor Swift’s, “Crazier” although they both weren’t very fond of the song but it was Trish’s “Love” playlist that was playing and it fit the mood so, really, who cares?

“Austin,” she says, having to look up at him, “I don’t want you to think that you’re just a rebound to me. I hate that word. I’m sorry I made you think that.”

He smiles; a beautiful, soft, smile, all for her. “It’s okay, Alls. All that matters is that we’re here now,” he says, and enlaces their fingers together. He gently kisses the knuckle of her pointy finger.

Ally looks down, blushing madly. It was a small gesture but it had made her heart skip a beat. No one has ever kissed her there before. She looks back up at him, eyes fierce with emotion. She wraps her arms around his neck and gently plays with the wispy hairs at the nape of his neck. She knows how much he loves it. She’s done it a million times before but this time, it feels so much more intimate.   

“You know I meant it.” 

He was looking at her as if he were in a dream, his hazel eyes half-lidded and fond.

“Hmmm. Meant what?”

It was easier to say than she thought it would be. Saying it to him now in the open, not in the dark, not clouded with a different emotions, was as natural to her as it would be if someone were to ask her the square root of 9 was. All she felt was love. Immense and deep love that felt as if she were floating in a cloud.

“When I said that I love you. I love you. So much.”

Austin knew what she was going even before she said it but still knocked all of the breath out of him.

Breathless, he responds, “I love you, too. I always have.”

She sighs in frustration, a response that Austin wasn’t expecting.

“Is it because I smell?”

Ally’s frustrated look is broken by small laughter. “No, no, you idiot. I just wish this could have happened earlier. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time, Austin. We could have saved each other so much heartbreak,” she says, her voice trailing off with a trace of sadness. 

He cups her face and kisses her, intoxicated with the feeling of her soft lips against his. “It’s okay, Alls. Think about it. If any of that hadn’t happened, I don’t think we’d be standing here right now. And I think right now is pretty fucking awesome so. Yeah, it sucked but we’re here. We’re here and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Ally wants to kiss him, again. Wants to kiss him until the sun blows the universe up and all of the stars in the galaxy explode. But, that’ll be for a later day because right now, she just hugs him. Getting as close to him as possible, hoping it says everything she can’t find it in herself to say. She’s enveloped with his scent and warmth.

She sniffs exaggeratedly. “I take it back. You do kind of smell. You sure you wouldn’t want to be in a shower?”

He leans back from her. “I take what I said back too. I hate you.”

She smiles and just kisses him again, because that’s just what you do when you love someone. He smiles against her lips and pulls her closer to him.

The wind gently rustles through the trees and their hair, Lana Del Rey’s “Bel Air” is playing softly out of the speakers, drifting around the two almost adults who are in love, standing outside, kissing and smiling, smiling and kissing, both unsure of what will happen next but too busy enjoying the present to worry about it, too busy smiling and kissing. Kissing and smiling. 

  
  
  


  
  


  
  



End file.
